Southland Man Charged in Smuggling 7 Tons of Coke

A Palos Verdes man is in custody today along with 11 others indicted by a Pennsylvania grand jury for smuggling 7 1/2 tons of cocaine from Colombia in what the U.S. Justice Department described as the largest importation of the drug ever by a single organization.

U.S. Atty. James J. West of Scranton said John F. Robertson III was arrested in California and was being held without bail.

The prosecutor said federal agents dug up $4.2 million, mostly in $20 bills, from the backyard of a “mansion-like” residence that Robertson owns in Lake Wallenpaupack, Pa.

“He thought he had a nest egg for life,” West said, “but he can be assured that the government is going to keep its hands on that money as the fruits of a criminal.”

The indictment--secretly returned and sealed in Harrisburg, Pa., on July 29 and unsealed when the first arrests were made Thursday--charges that the smuggling ring engaged in the cocaine flights between 1980 and early this year.

Moved to Palos Verdes

The indictment charges Robertson with involvement from the outset of the alleged conspiracy until 1984, West said.

“By the time the investigation started in 1983, Robertson had moved to Palos Verdes and was running an aviation firm that modified planes for long-distance flights and provided charter service to Nevada,” West said. He declined to comment on whether Robertson continued to be involved in the smuggling effort while operating that company.

Robertson’s co-defendants are Arturo Correa-Arroyave and his brother Rigoberto, both of Colombia; Thomas Keen Edenfield Jr. and Anthony E. Deck, both of Albuquerque, N.M.; Christopher Peter Sharsky of Uvalde, Tex., plus six Colombian nationals listed only as Danny, Peter, Beatrice, Claro, Eddie and Hernando.

The indictment alleges that the Correa-Arroyave brothers manufactured and obtained cocaine in Colombia and other countries, then set up an elaborate network to smuggle it into the United States.

Investigators charge that Robertson, Edenfield and Fredrik John Luytjes provided the airplanes and pilots for the flights carrying the drugs and money. Luytjes, an unindicted co-conspirator, has signed an agreement to plead guilty to drug trafficking charges, said Asst. U.S. Atty. Gordon Zubrod, who is prosecuting the case.

Charter and Maintenance

Zubrod said that Luytjes owned Air America Inc., and that Robertson was its general manager while it operated as an air charter and aviation maintenance company at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre International Airport in Avoca, Pa.

Federal agents said Air America was used to prepare and launch the aircraft that flew the cocaine from Colombia to this country. The government charged that at least six people, including Robertson, served as pilots for the ring, flying modified, long-range aircraft to and from Colombia.

The drug ring, according to sources close to the investigation, installed radio equipment in Colombia and set up communications at Luytjes’ home in Deer Lake, Pa., and at Robertson’s property in the Poconos resort area of Pennsylvania to monitor the movements of Air America planes during smuggling flights.

The case was developed by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Program, with investigators from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, the Customs Service and the Internal Revenue Service.

The largest amount of cocaine previously cited in a federal case was five tons in a 1984 Atlanta case that led to the conviction and life imprisonment of Harold J. Rosenthal.