Colombian drug kingpin busted in massive smuggling operation

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a Colombian drug kingpin who participated in a violent ring that used planes, speedboats and submarines to smuggle hundreds of millions of dollars in cocaine faces charges in California.

Prosecutors said Victor Hugo Cuellar-Silva was due Friday in a Los Angeles courtroom on charges of taking part in a vast cocaine and methamphetamine running conspiracy.

Prosecutors say Cuellar-Silva was a high-ranking member of a drug ring headed by Mexican fugitive Angel Humberto Chavez-Gastelum.

Prosecutors say the indictment charging the two men and dozens of others is unique in targeting the drug distribution chain from source to sellers. The men are also charged with two counts of murder.

Cuellar-Silva is in custody and it wasn’t clear if he had a lawyer who could comment.