MARATHON, Fla. – Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay says four men and one woman arrested on smuggling charges in the Florida Keys are part of a sophisticated human trafficking operation.
Ramsay’s agency announced the arrests on Tuesday. The quintet is accused of smuggling 13 Ecuadorian nationals and seven Chinese nationals into South Florida after the group landed via boat off County Road 905 in Key Largo.
Authorities said their arrests came after U.S. Border Patrol and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Air and Marine agents stopped and detained the suspects in Florida City. An arrest report states the migrants had been loaded into two SUVs after being dropped off by a go-fast boat.
Officials identified the suspects as Victor Victor Febles Gualpa, 38, of West Palm Beach; Joel Gil Egued, 48, of Cape Coral; Dianelys Perez Escouredo, 44, of Miami; Omar Livan Ripoll Perez, 28, of Miami; and Humberto Tamayo, 48, of Miami.
“It appeared to be a very well-organized human trafficking, human smuggling operation,” Ramsay said.
The migrants reportedly came via the Bahamas.
The arrest report states that the Ecuadorian migrants told authorities that they had paid “$20,000 to be smuggled, $4,000 in Ecuadorian money to leave Ecuador, $3,000 in the Bahamas, $1,000 to the vehicle operator and $12,000 to get them to their final destination in the New York and New Jersey area.”
Authorities seized two vehicles, plus a “couple of boats,” Ramsay said.
One of the vehicles was a rental car, the other was a Chevy Traverse that is now being held in Marathon.
Ramsay said that local prosecutors are choosing to try the case because officials with the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to pursue charges.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office told Local 10 News that it can neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation, which is standard.
The U.S. has seen a drastic surge in illegal border crossings by Chinese migrants since last year, with some politicians raising national security concerns.
Many arrive through Ecuador and across the southern border with Mexico.
But others are coming into South Florida, like a group of 10 Chinese migrants who landed on Sunny Isles Beach in May.
“It’s got to raise your eyebrow and (make you) a little concerned about what’s happening,” Ramsay said. “Why they are coming here? Is it just for a better way of life? Is it nefarious?”
Nestor Yglesias, a spokesperson for Homeland Security Investigations, said the agency is actively involved. Anyone with information about this suspected smuggling event is asked to call its tip line at 877-4-HSI-TIP.