Twelve-year sentence handed down to drug ring supplier

A 39-year-old Salvadoran national who helped supply cocaine and heroin to a New Milford-based drug ring was sentenced to 12 years in prison by a federal court judge Wednesday.

Juan Romero-Carcamo, who was convicted by a jury earlier this year on drug distribution and importation conspiracy charges, was a courier for the Yepes organization, a Colombian drug gang that federal authorities said was responsible for smuggling more than 250 kilograms of heroin and cocaine into the U.S.

Mr. Romero-Carcano was arrested in August 2007 as he tried to enter the country with 10 kilograms of cocaine concealed inside two trailer hitches.

U.S. Attorney Nora Dannehy said Mr. Romero-Carcano's arrest stemmed from a November 2006 raid at a home at 813 Candlewood Lake Road in New Milford, where authorities seized more than 10 kilograms of cocaine, six kilograms of heroin and packaging materials indicating an even larger quantity of narcotics had previously been kept there.

-- John Pirro