Biography
Nicolas Ricardo Tapasco Romero, age 45, a former detective with the Colombian Department of Administrative Security; Salamanca-cluster defendant. 36 months federal prison + 36 months supervised release. A former detective with the Colombian Department of Administrative Security, Nicolas Tapasco Romero facilitated the departure of two informants who posed as Colombian nationals seeking entry into the United States. He reviewed the fake passports, secured exit visas, and ensured safe passage through the Bogota airport in exchange for $4,000 per passenger and $5,000 to make flight reservations and obtain fake documents.
Case characteristics: FBI sting operation, FBI confidential informant. Organization referenced in charging documents: FARC.
Case data and description from The Intercept's Trial and Terror project (Trevor Aaronson and Margot Williams), licensed CC BY-NC. Source: https://github.com/theintercept/trial-and-terror-data
The original Southern District of Florida indictment in case 06-20001-CR-Lenard/Klein bears a January 3, 2006 filing stamp and names this defendant among ten accused in the Salamanca investigation. Its descriptions of the 2005 undercover operation are charging allegations. The indictment itself does not establish an arrest, extradition, prison admission or release date; the date embedded in the downloaded filename is not the filing date. Source: https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/criminal-hrsp/legacy/2010/07/29/01-27-06foreign-nationals-indict.pdf#page=1
