Pair jailed over record coke bust
Imported sculpture contained 35kg of cocaine
An American and a Mexican have been jailed for their roles in importing the largest ever consignment of cocaine into New Zealand, hidden inside a jewel-encrusted horse head.
US man Ronald Wayne Cook Senior, 58, and Mexican national Agustin SuarezJuarez, 46, were arrested in July last year after Customs found 35kg of cocaine inside the nearly 400kg diamanteencrusted statue, which arrived by plane from Mexico via Hong Kong.
The high-grade drugs had an estimated street value of up to $14 million.
Both men were charged with possession of and attempting to supply a class-A drug and later found guilty following a jury trial this year.
Yesterday, in the High Court at Auckland, Justice Sarah Katz sentenced Cook to a total of 17 years and nine months’ imprisonment and SuarezJuarez to 19 years and nine months.
Cook and Suarez-Juarez visited New Zealand in May and June last year to extract the cocaine and then to distribute it. They were acting on orders from a mastermind trio known only as the “Godfather, Silverio and the Artist”.
However, Customs and police uncovered the scheme after becoming suspicious of the incoming horse head, and went about setting a trap.
Seizing the statue when it arrived, Customs repackaged it with identical-looking blocks of flour and also planted a tracking device in it before sending it to its intended address on May 23.
The cocaine was so well hidden it took an hour to remove, Justice Katz said.
When Cook and Suarez-Juarez flew to New Zealand from Hawaii on May 31, Customs officers were watching and waiting.
After scouting several locations, Cook and Suarez-Juarez again left the country briefly before returning — assuming it was safe for the operation to continue.
Investigators, however, were following the men and watched as they extracted what they believed was their cocaine.
Some of the packaged blocks were then taken to the Crowne Plaza Hotel, where Cook and Suarez-Juarez met the buyer, Henry Anchondo. But when the trio discovered the cocaine had been switched they realised the jig was up and tried to escape.
Anchondo disappeared and his whereabouts remains unknown, while Cook and Suarez-Juarez were arrested trying to board a flight to Los Angeles.
During sentencing, Crown prosecutor David Stevens said the American-Mexican pair may not have been the leaders of the syndicate, but it was a “sophisticated, large-scale commercial drug operation”.
He said the quantity of cocaine was unprecedented in New Zealand’s legal history, about six times more than the next-highest case.
Stevens said Cook and Suarez-Juarez had created an elaborate cover while in New Zealand, including setting up a meeting with the Auckland Chamber of Commerce. The pair were “well-resourced and well-funded”, he said.
Cook, named “the Technician” during the scheme, was responsible for the logistics of handling the drugs when it arrived and was also SuarezJuarez’s translator, Justice Katz said.
The judge added that there were three suspected masterminds, the Godfather, Silverio and the Artist. Their identities are still unknown.
A third man, Gonzalo Rivera Pavon, was also arrested and charged. However, he was exonerated after social media messages proved he was an innocent party.
Stevens also sought an order for the destruction of the horse head, which was granted. “It can’t be recycled?” Justice Katz joked.
Cook’s lawyer Sam Wimsett also quipped that he thought the horse head was to be auctioned off. “I was hoping to have it in my new chambers,” he said, drawing smiles from the courtroom.
Cook and SuarezJuarez will be deported when they are released.