Two men are facing charges after authorities said they were caught on camera illegally dumping contaminated waste into a lake in Doral.
Julio Barreto, 51, and Dayron Barreto, 25, were both arrested Tuesday for felony violation of Florida litter law, Miami-Dade Police officials said.
Police said their investigation began after they learned of a viral video that showed workers with a truck disposing contaminated waste onto the lake of an apartment complex in the 10000 block of Northwest 45th Terrace.
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According to arrest reports, the video showed a vacuum truck belonging to South Florida Vac-Con Service, Inc. at the Valencia at Doral complex making the illegal dump.
Miami-Dade Police's Illegal Dumping Unit worked with Doral Police and the Department of Environmental Resource Management to identify the suspects, officials said.
On Tuesday, detectives made contact with Julio Barreto, who is the president of Vac-Con, and Dayron Barreto, who is Vac-Con's manager, the reports said.
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The two told detectives they received a contract to pump out 22 storm drains at the property for $3,300.
After pumping out 21 drains, the vacuum truck reached capacity, so they decided to dump some of the contents near the lake, the reports said.
They estimated that they dumped around 100 gallons of stormwater, the reports said.
Both men were arrested and booked into jail. Attorney information wasn't available.
In addition to the charges, the two men, Vac-Con, the apartment complex and another company were issued civil citations totaling more than $12,500, police said.
"Once again, I am extremely proud of our Illegal Dumping Unit, for taking swift action and bringing the individuals to justice who recklessly disposed of contaminated waste into one of the lakes of our communities," Miami-Dade Police Director George A. Perez said in a statement. "We appreciate the vigilance of our citizens who immediately posted the incident on social media. Caring for the environment is a shared responsibility."
