Coral Gables

3 men charged after large human smuggling ring busted in Coral Gables

Lucas Sedeno Rodriguez, 52, Jose Luis Villares, 55, and Keiner Cicilia Rodriguez, 39, are all facing charges of transporting, moving or attempting to transport or move an alien within the United States, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday

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What to Know

  • Three Cuban men are now facing charges in connection with a large human smuggling ring that was busted in Coral Gables last week
  • The men are facing charges of transporting, moving or attempting to transport or move an alien within the United States, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday
  • The charges come after authorities said the men and 25 undocumented immigrants were discovered in Coral Gables Friday
  • One of the men was driving a U-Haul van with 22 immigrants inside, while the other two men were in a Toyota Corolla with three other immigrants, the complaint said
  • It was later discovered they had been involved in a smuggling event and had recently arrived by boat from the Bahamas, the complaint said

Three Cuban men are facing charges in a human smuggling ring that was busted last week after over two dozen undocumented migrants who arrived by boat were discovered in Coral Gables, authorities said.

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Lucas Sedeno Rodriguez, 52, Jose Luis Villares, 55, and Keiner Cicilia Rodriguez, 39, are all facing charges of transporting, moving or attempting to transport or move an alien within the United States, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday.

Lucas Sedeno Rodriguez, Jose Luis Villares and Keiner Cicilia Rodriguez
Miami-Dade Corrections
Lucas Sedeno Rodriguez, Jose Luis Villares and Keiner Cicilia Rodriguez

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The three men were taken into custody along with 25 migrants after they were found in Coral Gables Friday morning. The discovery caused a massive law enforcement response involving Coral Gables Police, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security.

According to the criminal complaint, the incident began when a concerned citizen spotted what they believed was an abduction on Old Cutler Road in the Snapper Creek Lakes neighborhood.

The citizen said they saw a tan Toyota Corolla with Texas license plates parked close to a U-Haul van, and saw a man forcibly shove a woman into the back seat of the Corolla, the complaint said.

A short time later, police stopped the van and the Corolla.

Inside the van were 23 people including the driver, Villares, and 22 undocumented immigrants from China and Ecuador, the complaint said.

A U-Haul van is towed from the scene in Coral Gables where authorities believe a possible human smuggling ring was busted.
NBC6
A U-Haul van is towed from the scene in Coral Gables where authorities believe a possible human smuggling ring was busted.

Another five people were in the Toyota including Sedeno Rodriguez and Cicilia Rodriguez and three undocumented immigrants from Ecuador and Brazil, including the woman seen being shoved into the back seat of the Toyota, the complaint said.

When authorities inspected the van, they found it had cardboard boxes covering the rear windows and no seats other than the driver and passenger seats.

"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 wrote in the complaint.

Nearly 30 people were taken into custody in Coral Gables Friday as part of an investigation into a possible human smuggling or trafficking operation, authorities said. NBC6's Jamie Guirola reports

Investigators also noted that the undocumented immigrants had no luggage and only small items like jewelry and cell phones.

It was later discovered they had been involved in a smuggling event and had recently arrived by boat from the Bahamas, the complaint said.

All of the undocumented immigrants were taken to the Dania Beach Border Patrol Station.

Sedeno Rodriguez was interviewed by investigators and said he'd been approached in Homestead by someone named "Miggy" who he knows is involved in human smuggling.

He said "Miggy" asked him to pick up the migrants by vehicle and transport them to another location, and he would be paid $5,000, the complaint said.

Multiple people were seen being taken into custody in Coral Gables Friday as part of an investigation involving multiple local and federal law enforcement agencies.
NBC6
Multiple people were seen being taken into custody in Coral Gables Friday as part of an investigation involving multiple local and federal law enforcement agencies.

Villares said he was recruited by Sedeno Rodriguez to assist and was to be paid $500.

Villares also said Cicilia Rodriguez rented the U-Haul van and the plan was to drop the migrants off near a hardware store in Miami-Dade, the complaint said.

Cicilia Rodriguez said the Toyota is his and he was told to rent the U-Haul by Sedeno Rodriguez, the complaint said.

The complaint said all three men are Cuban citizens.

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