Former Leader of a Violent Transnational Criminal Organization Sentenced to 360 months in Prison for Engaging in a Continuing Criminal Enterprise as Part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF)
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Today, United States District Court Judge Pedro A. Delgado sentenced José Julio Rodríguez-Cumba, a.k.a. “Chambi/Chembi/Josué/Chambo/Patrón,” to 360 months (30 years) of imprisonment followed by 5 years of supervised release for running a continuing criminal enterprise. Rodríguez-Cumba was arrested in the District of Puerto Rico on October 4, 2021, and pleaded guilty on April 14, 2026.
According to court documents, Rodríguez-Cumba directed a large-scale drug trafficking organization (the Enterprise), that utilized land and sea transportation assets to import and distribute multi-hundred-kilogram shipments of cocaine from South America into Puerto Rico and the continental United States. The defendant admitted that he was responsible that more than 2,000 kilograms of cocaine that were going to be unlawfully imported into the United States and distributed as part of the Enterprise.
Rodríguez-Cumba made millions of dollars in profit from drug trafficking. This defendant directed members of the enterprise to use violence, possess firearms, including machine guns for protection and in furtherance of the Enterprise.
From on or about July 2023 and continuing up to and until May 22, 2024, while in the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Guaynabo, Rodríguez-Cumba caused other individuals to introduce buprenorphine into MDC.
Rodríguez-Cumba agreed to forfeiture of various properties, including a luxury yacht - “El Ancla”, a 2014 Pershing, 62-foot vessel, and other assets including cash, real property, and personal property, as well as firearms.
“The sentence imposed reflects the severe consequences for those who choose to dedicate their lives to crime and poison our streets and communities with harmful drugs. This case represents the comprehensive efforts being deployed to target and dismantle the most dangerous criminal organizations and hold their members accountable,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Héctor Ramírez-Carbó for the District of Puerto Rico. “Prosecutors and law enforcement at every level are working together to dismantle and eliminate armed trafficking organizations that threaten our communities.”
“Today is an important day for HSI San Juan but more important for Puerto Rico. The sentencing of a dangerous gang leader like José J. Rodríguez-Cumba is the direct result of the seamless collaboration between HSI San Juan, the Puerto Rico Police Bureau, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office," said HSI San Juan Acting Special Agent in Charge Yariel Ramos. "By working together to build a comprehensive case against him, we have successfully removed a violent criminal from our streets for decades. This result sends an unequivocal message: HSI remains fully committed to investigating and holding accountable those who terrorize our communities.”
This investigation was led by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS-OIG), United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) Ricardo Imbert Fernández of the Transnational Organized Crime Section is prosecuting the case.
This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.
HSTF San Juan comprises agents and officers from the following federal partners: FBI, ICE-HSI, CBP (OFO, AMO and Border Patrol), the U.S. Marshals Service for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, DEA, ATF, IRS, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Department of State, and the U.S. Secret Service, the Puerto Rico/U.S. Virgin Islands HIDTA, TSA, FAA, and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Districts of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The HSTF also has the following state and local law enforcement partners as participating agencies: the Puerto Rico Police Department; the San Juan, Carolina, Guaynabo, Barceloneta, and Ponce Municipal Police Departments, the Puerto Rico National Guard – Counter Drug Program; the Puerto Rico Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; the Puerto Rico Internal Revenue Service (Hacienda); the Puerto Rico Port Authority; and the Virgin Islands Police Department.