Over 2 dozen swept up in cocaine-distribution arrests, including boat racing team owner

MIAMI — A massive federal drug-trafficking sweep targeting more than two dozen suspects resulted in multiple arrests in South Florida this week.

FBI agents conducted raids on Thursday in connection with a widespread cocaine-distribution network involving at least 27 suspects over a four-year period, according to federal court records.

“I can confirm that the FBI, in collaboration with our partners, is conducting court-authorized activity at multiple locations in Miami-Dade, Monroe and Palm Beach counties,” Special Agent Willie Creech, an FBI spokesman, told the Miami Herald, declining to comment further.

In late August, a federal grand jury indicted multiple defendants on charges of conspiring to distribute cocaine and other drug-related offenses between 2020 and 2023, according to court records. Among the other charges: distributing cocaine within 1,000 feet of a playground.

Caught up in the case is Florida Keys offshore racing speed boat team owner John Robert Strama Jr., who faces life in federal prison if convicted of the conspiracy and distribution charges, along with using a minor to engage in drug trafficking, possession of a firearm in drug trafficking and possession of ammunition by a convicted felon.

The indictment charging Strama, who lives in the Middle Keys city of Marathon, was released on Thursday, according to court records. Information on his legal representation was not immediately available.

Federal authorities plan to seize several assets, including real estate, vehicles and boats, that they claim were paid for with profits from cocaine sales, according to the indictment filed by prosecutor Sean McLaughlin.

Court records show the following defendants are also charged: Rusty John Stiglitz, Daniel Ferndandez Ramirez, Daniel Delgado, Orlando Rene Gonzalez, Alfredo Michael Nunez, Elvis Lazaro Ruiz, Pedro Luis Lugo, Nyran Antonio Ross, Tyrell Lamar Williams, Louis Charles Arvelo, Andrew Hamill Hunt, Kevin Andrew Yeider, Jose Enrique Olivo Sanchez, Kenyatta Scott, Jr., MacArthur Junior Sheppard, Alberto Ravelo, Jr., Allison AnnMarie Thomas, Kizmet Yatz Qualls, James Dean Chatelain, Michael David Corbosiero, Michael Joseph Rodamer, Robert Roy Taute, Jr., Bairon Aceituno Machado, Lazaro Jesus Hernandez, Anthony Velez Llanes and Tyler Jameson McMillan.