MIAMI -- A Venezuelan man accused of smuggling large amounts of cocaine into the U.S. and elsewhere has made his first appearance in a Florida federal courtroom.
    
Authorities say 41-year-old Roberto Lopez Perdigon was brought to the U.S. last week from Panama. Lopez Perdigon was arrested there on a Dec. 2011 U.S. indictment charging him with conspiring to import cocaine into this country. He made his first U.S. court appearance Monday in Miami.
    
Prosecutors say Lopez Perdigon is from Caracas, Venezuela. The Drug Enforcement Administration says Lopez Perdigon used aircraft to ship cocaine to Africa and sea smuggling routes to carry the drugs between Ecuador and Mexico.
    
If convicted Lopez Perdigon faces between 10 years and life in prison. Court records Monday did not indicate whether he had an attorney.

Associated Press