Cuban national convicted of using Florida travel agency to smuggle people across border, USAO
HIALEAH, Fla. - A 28-year-old Hialeah man was convicted for his role in operating an "international alien smuggling" and money laundering conspiracy that brought thousands of Cuban nationals into the United States through the southern border, according to the United States Attorney's Office.
Agency fraud scheme
The backstory:
Lazaro Alain Cabrera-Rodriguez used his travel agency as a front to help Cuban nationals illegally enter the country, according to reports. Federal officials said he submitted at least 600 fraudulent visa waiver applications and coordinated travel with co-conspirators.
Smugglers charged victims between $1,500 and $40,000, occasionally chartering private planes for transport. The group also advertised fraudulent European tourist visa waivers on social media by using fake addresses and false claims of European citizenship.
Smuggling enterprise financial gain
By the numbers:
Financial records revealed that Cabrera-Rodriguez and his co-conspirators laundered over $20 million through 57 bank accounts.
Acting Special Agent in Charge Nicholas Ingegno of Homeland Security Investigations Tampa noted that the enterprise operated solely for financial gain by treating desperate people like cargo.
"This was not help, and it was not humanitarian; It was a criminal enterprise built on treating people like cargo and using their desperation for financial gain," said Acting Special Agent in Charge Nicholas Ingegno of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Tampa. "Alien smuggling organizations do not provide a service; they exploit vulnerable people for profit while undermining the integrity of our borders and immigration system."
The jury convicted Cabrera-Rodriguez of conspiracy to commit alien smuggling for financial gain, conspiracy to commit international money laundering, and conspiracy to commit money laundering concealment. He is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 17 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from court records released by the U.S. Attorney's Office, as well as statements from Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Acting Special Agent in Charge Nicholas Ingegno of Homeland Security Investigations Tampa.