Adelmo Perlaza-Montano,owner of three fishing boats that were seized after authorities found them smuggling cocaine from Colombia

Owner of three fishing boats that were seized after authorities found them smuggling cocaine from Colombia pleaded guilty this morning to a federal drug offense.Adelmo Perlaza-Montano, 50, faces 10 years to life in prison on a charge of conspiring to possess cocaine with intent to distribute.Perlaza-Montano, who was extradited recently from Colombia, agreed to cooperate in Operation Panama Express, a wide-ranging, Tampa-based investigation of maritime drug smuggling in the eastern Pacific Ocean.The defendant belonged to a drug trafficking organization headed by Daniel Segura-Rodriguez, who also has been arrested in Colombia and is awaiting extradition, investigators say.For at least six years, Perlaza-Montano owned or was administrator for fishing vessels used to transport multi-ton shipments of cocaine to Mexico, according to his plea agreement. The drugs were destined for the United States.