A federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned a five-count indictment charging three Venezuelan nationals with drug trafficking offenses, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Puerto Rico announced May 6, 2026 [1]. The defendants are Charlie G. Marval-Henríquez, Jhoan Alexander Rodríguez-Núñez, and José Abraham Rodríguez-Núñez [1]. The indictment was secured as part of the Homeland Security Task Force's ongoing enforcement operations targeting transnational drug networks operating in and through Puerto Rico [1].
The Homeland Security Task Force, a multi-agency prosecutorial and investigative unit operating within the District of Puerto Rico, has built a sustained record of indictments, guilty pleas, and sentencings directed at drug trafficking organizations that use the island as a transshipment corridor to the continental United States [1]. Puerto Rico's geographic position in the northeastern Caribbean places it along established maritime smuggling routes, making it a persistent enforcement priority for federal prosecutors. Drug trafficking charges at the federal level typically carry mandatory minimum sentences under 21 U.S.C. § 841 and related statutes, with penalties scaling by drug type and quantity.
The indictment adds to a pattern of federal prosecutions targeting Venezuelan nationals alleged to be involved in transnational trafficking networks [1]. Prosecutors have pursued these cases under the HSTF framework, which consolidates resources from the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, and other federal law enforcement components. The five-count charging instrument signals that prosecutors are pursuing multiple, distinct criminal theories against the defendants, though the specific counts and controlled substances identified in the indictment are drawn from the DOJ announcement [1].
The defendants face arraignment and detention proceedings in the District of Puerto Rico. No trial date has been publicly announced. The case will be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Puerto Rico, which has used HSTF prosecutions as a central pillar of its national security and public safety docket. Given the transnational profile of the defendants and the multi-count indictment, detention hearings are likely to address flight risk and the defendants' lack of ties to the United States.