Two Dominican nationals, Lucas José Pérez and Jeuris Rodríguez Payano, were sentenced in federal court in Puerto Rico for narcotics trafficking charges. Rodríguez Payano was sentenced to 118 months in prison and five years of supervised release for conspiring to manufacture or distribute 323 kilograms of cocaine. Pérez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture or distribute cocaine with intent to import.
Both men were extradited to Puerto Rico in August 2025. Additionally, two individuals arrested in the federal operation 'New Kids' in Bayamón, Ángel Ocasio Cancel and Rodney Alexis Maldonado Márquez, were also sentenced. Ocasio Cancel received 60 months in prison and eight years of supervised release, while Maldonado Márquez was sentenced to time already served and six years of supervised release.
The sentences were handed down by Judge Raúl Arias Marxuach.