Three Cuban men have been charged in connection with a human smuggling operation that was disrupted in Coral Gables, Florida. Lucas Sedeno Rodriguez, 52, Jose Luis Villares, 55, and Keiner Cicilia Rodriguez, 39, were arrested after a citizen reported a potential abduction, which led to the discovery of over two dozen undocumented migrants being transported in a van and a sedan, reported NBC 6.
The situation unfolded last week when an alert resident observed a woman being forced into a Toyota Corolla with Texas license plates, prompting a law enforcement response involving Coral Gables Police, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and Homeland Security. During the stop on Old Cutler Road, officers found the three suspects and 28 people, most of whom were from China according to Local 10 News, including the migrants from also Ecuador and Brazil.
The discovery of the migrants was made after a concerned citizen took action upon witnessing what they believed was an abduction and reported it to police. In the U-Haul van, driven by Villares, authorities found 22 migrants hidden behind cardboard-covered windows, while Sedeno Rodriguez was driving the Corolla, with Cicilia Rodriguez in the passenger seat, and three migrants in the back seat. All the undocumented immigrants, as per the complaint, had recently arrived by boat from the Bahamas.
According to investigators, Sedeno Rodriguez admitted to being approached by a known human smuggler and being offered $5,000 to transport the migrants. Villares stated that he was recruited by Sedeno Rodriguez to assist with the transport for $500. Cicilia Rodriguez, who rented the U-Haul van, claimed having met with the others that morning at Sedeno Rodriguez's home. "Based on my training and experience, the circumstances surrounding this U-Haul van and its passengers - with the rear windows covered by cardboard and with a large number of undocumented aliens in the cargo space of the vehicle without any seats - is consistent with the tactics used by human smugglers to camouflage and smuggle migrants," an investigator detailed in the criminal complaint obtained by NBC 6.
All suspects are facing federal charges of transporting, moving, or attempting to transport or move an alien within the United States. Villares and Sedeno Rodriguez are being held at the Federal Detention Center in downtown Miami, while Cicilia Rodriguez's status is not listed in county or federal databases.
