Didier Pérez Pérez, Lester Leyniel Soca Díaz and Yoandy Alonso, arrested last Thursday, are accused of belonging to a human trafficking network that was dedicated to transporting Cubans by sea to Monroe County, Florida (USA), where the They were held hostage in a house in Hialeah until their relatives paid $15,000.
A grand jury from the Southern District of Florida has brought charges against them for “conspiracy to transport and harbor aliens for profit; transportation of aliens for profit; conspiracy to commit hostage taking; and hostage taking.”
According to details of the accusation, to which the Spanish agency Efe had access, the events of which they are accused took place from August to early September of this year and “other people, both known and unknown” participated in them for Justice from USA
In addition, the court document mentions the existence of two victims, identified only as victim 1 and victim 2, who were held and who their captors threatened to “injure” or “kill.” According to information from the drug control task force against organized crime, in charge of the investigation, “the migrants were even told that they would be left in the middle of the ocean if they did not pay their smuggling debts.”
According to the US authorities, with the capture of Pérez, Soca and Alonso, the coyote network was dismantled and the Cubans were rescued thanks to the fact that a “friend of one of the hostages, who served as a hook, agreed to pay the $15,000 and he was quoted on a hostage swap site.”
the events of which they are charged occurred from August to early September of this year and “other people participated, both known and unknown” to the US Justice
The coyotes, who will face trial, if found guilty could be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of three years of supervised release, as well as fines of $250,000.
The accusation establishes the confiscation of the boats, vehicles and planes that may have been used to commit the imputed crimes.
Properties that may be derived, directly or indirectly, from the commission of crimes and those used to commit them will also be confiscated.
The existence of these networks of coyotes have been put in evidence in some cases. The boxer Andy Cruz saw his escape frustrated due to the denunciation made by Rolando Céspedes, The prosecutor, a man who has spent more than 10 years in the sports release business and has immigration contacts in Cuba. This individual had warned the athlete that his exit should be negotiated with him in exchange for a large sum; Since the athlete did not agree, he was denounced.
The last Wednesday they were arrested Víctor Manuel Ríos Castillo, 29, of West Palm Beach, and Jorge Luis Fernández Rodríguez, 53, of Tampa. The first was accused of attempting to smuggle people and the second of illegally transporting fuel.
Ríos accepted that he had planned to go to Cuba to transfer migrants. Since October 2021, when the current fiscal year began, more than 177,000 Cubans have arrived by land in the United States and more than 5,000 by sea, a migration crisis that exceeds those of 1980 and 1994 combined.
________________________
Collaborate with our work:
The team of 14ymedio is committed to doing serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time becoming a member of our newspaper. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
