International Narcotics And Weapons Trafficker Sentenced To 186 Months In Prison For Conspiring To Import Hundreds Of Kilograms Of Cocaine Into The United States

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced today that MITTEL PATEL, a United Kingdom national, was sentenced to 186 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Jennifer H. Rearden, before whom he previously pled guilty, for his participation in a conspiracy to import approximately 400 kilograms of cocaine into the United States.

"The illicit trafficking of narcotics and weapons poses an extreme threat to all New Yorkers and all Americans-and that threat is real," said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. "Mittel Patel conspired to sell an arsenal of military-grade weaponry to persons he believed to be working for a violent drug cartel so the purported cartel could protect a shipment of hundreds of kilograms of deadly narcotics into the United States. The contemplated weapons and drugs could kill thousands of innocent Americans. Thanks to the extraordinary investigative work of the DEA and our other law enforcement partners, Patel was apprehended before he could make good on his efforts to endanger American lives, and he is now incarcerated."

As reflected in the Complaint, the Indictment, and other filings and information in the public record:

PATEL was a narcotics and weapons trafficker based in London, United Kingdom. In 2021, an undercover DEA agent ("UC-1") began communicating with PATEL about possible narcotics and weapons transactions, including PATEL and PATEL's U.S.-based co-conspirators illegally providing UC-1 with an assortment of military-grade weapons, including machine guns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, and rocket-propelled grenades ("RPGs"). As the discussions evolved, UC-1 conveyed to PATEL that UC-1 had arranged to purchase approximately 400 kilograms of cocaine from the Sinaloa Cartel, on the condition that UC-1 provide weapons to the Sinaloa Cartel to protect the drug shipment as it crossed the border from Mexico to the United States and in exchange for PATEL providing additional security for future drug shipments.

In August 2022, PATEL and his co-conspirators agreed to provide two sample firearms to UC-1, in exchange for $10,000. PATEL and his co-conspirators then executed those sample weapons transactions and sent to an address located in the United States, in five separate packages, the parts for an AR-15 assault rifle and a sniper rifle with a scope, both pictured below:

PATEL understood from UC-1 that these weapons would be provided as a sample to the Sinaloa Cartel, as a prelude to the 400-kilogram drug transaction and a larger weapons order. PATEL confirmed that, for the larger order, he and his co-conspirators could provide, in addition to the sample weapons, machine guns and RPGs.

On February 14, 2023, PATEL met with UC-1 in Athens, Greece to continue their discussions. PATEL was arrested by Greek authorities following the meeting, and he was extradited to the United States on February 15, 2024.

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In addition to the prison term, PATEL, 47, was sentenced to five years of supervised release.

Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding efforts of the DEA's Special Operations Division Bilateral Investigations Unit. Mr. Clayton also thanked the DEA New York Field Office, DEA Athens, the Office of International Affairs of the Department of Justice's Criminal Division, and our law enforcement partners in Greece for their assistance.

The case is being handled by the Office's National Security and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan L. Bodansky and Jacob H. Gutwillig are in charge of the prosecution.