OPA-LOCKA, Fla. – Authorities raided the Opa-locka Hialeah Flea Market on Wednesday, targeting store owners in connection with a scheme to illegally redeem food stamps in exchange for cash.
The U.S. Department of Justice held a news conference later in the day, where U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Wifredo Ferrer announced that 22 people had been charged.
Ferrer said the store owners had collectively received more than $13 million in federal payments for transactions that did not provide food. The fraud scheme is commonly known as "food stamp trafficking," authorities said.
"These flea market retailers are charged with having taken advantage of a provision in the SNAP program designed to provide locally sourced fresh produce and meat to low income families who otherwise would likely have no option for such food items," said Karen Citizen-Wilcox, Special Agent in Charge, USDA-OIG. "Instead of operating within the confines of the rules and regulations for farmers' market vendors, these retailers created an illegal benefits exchange system that defrauded the American taxpayer and denied healthy foods to needy children and their families.
"Thousands of SNAP recipients are believed to have exchanged their EBT benefits for cash at the Opa-locka Hialeah Flea Market. The flea market retailers, who are alleged to have orchestrated this trafficking scheme, pocketed millions in "fees," which they charged for converting food assistance benefits into cash," she said.
People at the flea market were shocked Wednesday morning when they saw federal and local law enforcement agencies swarm the flea market.
"(There) must have been 100 police cars coming in at once," Juan Sousa, who witnessed the raid, said.
Some store owners told Local 10 News that they welcomed the raid.
"I am glad this happening," store owner Felix Lanca said.
Lanca has owned a food stand at the flea market for six years.
"Do you accept food stamps?" Local 10 News reporter Ben Kennedy asked Lanca.
"Yes, but legally," Lanca said.
"Not for cash?" Kennedy asked.
"No, that is not right," he said. "They even told me that EBT is only for food."
Detectives shut down more than a half-dozen stores and placed store owners in zip ties as they searched for signs of illegal activity.
"If you do something wrong out of the system, if they get you, you're out of business," shopper Stewart Ariza said.
Six other people were charged by the Office of Statewide Prosecution for allegedly receiving additional illegal payments during the course of the food stamp scheme.
Authorities said the joint operation was the largest combined financial fraud loss for a food stamp trafficking takedown in U.S. history.