NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)), published as received.

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – YAIDEL PLACIDO SALVADOR, (“PLACIDO”), age 40, a resident of Cuba, was sentenced on April 8, 2026, after previously pleading guilty to a superseding indictment charging him with conspiracy to distribute, and possession with intent to distribute, five kilograms or more of cocaine, and possession with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. PLACIDO was sentenced to 120 months imprisonment, five years of supervised release, and a $200 mandatory special assessment fee.

According to court documents, PLACIDO, and other co-conspirators, distributed and possessed with intent to distribute, multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine within the Eastern District of Louisiana. PLACIDO transported kilogram quantities of cocaine into the Eastern District of Louisiana in furtherance of the conspiracy.

This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF New Orleans comprises agents and officers from the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigations, Drug Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration – New Orleans Field Division Office, and assisted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Border Patrol, the Gretna Major Crimes Task Force, the Kenner Police Department, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office, and the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Lynn E. Schiffman of the Narcotics Unit was in charge of the prosecution.

This case was investigated and prosecuted by the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) New Orleans as part of Operation Take Back America. HSTFs, which were established by President Trump in Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion, are joint operations led by the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. Operation Take Back America is a nationwide federal initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

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