West Palm Beach, FL - A former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent testified Friday in the federal trial against Chiquita Brands International Inc., stating that the right-wing paramilitary group Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC) was the leading supplier of cocaine and "victimized" the company by using it to smuggle drugs.

David L. Gaddis, who served over 25 years as a DEA special agent, testified for the defense in the West Palm Beach, Florida, federal court. He explained that the AUC was heavily involved in the drug trade and often embedded itself in multinational companies like Chiquita to smuggle drugs and weapons.

Several families whose relatives were allegedly killed or brutalized by the AUC in the late 1990s and early 2000s sued Chiquita in federal multidistrict litigation. The plaintiffs accused the company of funding the militant group with nearly $2 million to protect its business interests in Colombia.

"We found that we were getting a greater bang for our buck by targeting the AUC and the AUC upper command," Gaddis said. He testified that no legitimate company voluntarily helped the AUC smuggle drugs or weapons, describing these companies as victims.

Gaddis, who once served as a DEA regional director of operations in Colombia, frequently referred to the AUC as a "drug trafficking" or "narcoterrorist" organization. He provided a brief history of the AUC and its rise to prominence in the drug trade following the death of Pablo Escobar, the founder and leader of the Medellín Cartel.

After Escobar's death, a new cocaine market emerged, and the AUC's predecessor, Autodefensas Campesinas de Córdoba y Urabá (ACCU), resumed operations. The Castaño brothers, former allies of Escobar who had a falling out with him, formed the ACCU and later the AUC. They leveraged modern technology and chemists to enhance cocaine production, establishing the AUC as a formidable cocaine trafficking organization.

Gaddis testified that the AUC frequently clashed with the leftist guerrilla group Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) over control of coca-growing territories. He described the region as a "war zone."

He detailed the AUC's cocaine distribution network, stating that the group received about $22,000 per kilogram of cocaine once it reached the U.S. market. The drug was shipped via various methods, including planes, freighters, speed boats, and submarines. Gaddis emphasized that many cargo companies, including FedEx, were victimized by drug traffickers.

On cross-examination, Agnieszka Fryszman of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, representing the plaintiffs, challenged Gaddis's assertion that the AUC was primarily a drug trafficking organization. She referenced a 2015 declaration by Gaddis stating that FARC controlled the world's cocaine supply and mentioned a deposition where he said the AUC was formed to protect wealthy landowners.

Gaddis maintained that the AUC was a drug trafficking organization and a terrorist group known for torture, kidnapping, and murder.

Following Gaddis's testimony, Chiquita attorneys called expert witness Jorge Restrepo, an economics scholar at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogota, Colombia. Restrepo testified about his research on the AUC and the Colombian civil conflict, offering opinions on the lack of correlation between Chiquita's payments to the AUC and subsequent violence.

The plaintiffs are represented by a legal team including John Scarola, Victoria Mesa-Estrada, Mariano Garcia, James K. Green, Rick Herz, Maryum Jordan, Marissa Vahlsing, Marco Simons, William J. Wichmann, William R. Scherer, Agnieszka Fryszman, Leslie M. Kroeger, Jonathan C. Reiter, Terrence Collingsworth, and Gabriela Paola Valentin Diaz.

Chiquita is represented by Michael L. Cioffi, Frank A. Dante, Melissa F. Murphy, Michael A. Stoolman, and Serena S. Gopal of Blank Rome LLP.

The case is In re: Chiquita Brands International Inc., Alien Tort Statute and Shareholders Derivative Litigation, case number 0:08-md-01916, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.