Willinton Henao Gutierrez
Charged, not convicted. Henao Gutierrez has been charged by federal indictment with cocaine-importation and -distribution conspiracies and money-laundering counts following his extradition from Colombia. The charges are allegations; he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty, and he has not been tried.
Introduction
Willinton Henao Gutierrez, also known as “El Mocho Olmedo,” 45, is the alleged leader of Frente 33, part of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP) dissident network, a designated foreign terrorist organization, who was extradited from Colombia to the Southern District of Florida on October 22, 2026, to face charges from an alleged international cocaine-trafficking and money-laundering conspiracy . U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones and DEA Miami Special Agent in Charge Miles Aley announced the extradition . If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum of ten years and up to life on each of the two drug-trafficking conspiracy counts, and up to twenty years on each money-laundering count .
Background Information
According to court records, from September 2021 through August 2022 Henao Gutierrez and his co-conspirators participated in an international drug-trafficking operation involving five kilograms or more of cocaine, operating in Colombia and in South Florida, including Miami-Dade and Broward Counties . The indictment also alleges the group agreed to transfer funds from the United States to and through locations outside the country to promote the manufacture, importation, sale, and distribution of controlled substances — the money-laundering side of the same pipeline .
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Henao Gutierrez is charged with conspiring to import cocaine into the United States, conspiring to distribute cocaine knowing it would be unlawfully imported, conspiring to commit money laundering, and attempted money laundering — charged alongside co-defendants Jennifer Tapiero, Heyner Raul Sandoval Salazar, and Wilder Antonio Sanchez Duarte . His identity as the alleged head of Frente 33 within a State Department-designated terrorist organization is what elevates the case from a routine drug indictment to an FTO-linked prosecution arriving on U.S. soil by extradition . The case sits under court number 23-cr-20070 in the Southern District of Florida .
Public Reaction and Consequences
The arrest and extradition were secured by the Justice Department’s Judicial Attaché in Bogotá and the Office of International Affairs, with the department formally thanking the Cuerpo Técnico de Investigación of the Colombian Attorney General’s Office for its assistance . DEA Miami and the DEA Bogotá Country Office are investigating, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Yara Dodin is prosecuting the case . The announcement adds a named FARC-dissident commander to the growing list of extradited cartel and guerrilla figures arriving in U.S. courts under the department’s transnational-criminal-organization priorities .
Current Status
Henao Gutierrez is in U.S. custody in the Southern District of Florida following the October 22 extradition, awaiting proceedings on the four-count indictment; no trial date or disposition is stated in the announcement, and his co-defendants’ cases remain pending alongside his .
Impact on Their Career/Life
A man who allegedly ran a Frente 33 cocaine-and-laundering pipeline between Colombia and South Florida now faces two life-exposure drug counts and two twenty-year money-laundering counts in a U.S. courtroom — the career end-state the extradition pipeline is designed to produce for FARC-dissident leadership, whatever the eventual verdict.
Sources
- U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Florida, “Leader of FARC Dissident Group Extradited to South Florida to Face Federal Cocaine Trafficking and Money Laundering Charges,” October 23, 2026 — source