FHP makes two human smuggling arrests, Nov. 8, on I-75
FHP photos of human smuggling staffic stops; top - Hernando County, and bottom - Sumter County
Hernando County
At 3:01 pm on November 8, FHP troopers conducted a traffic stop on Interstate-75 in Hernando County, Florida on a 2013 Toyota Sienna passenger van, due to the vehicle having a fraudulent Texas temporary tag. The unlicensed driver, 25 year-old Juan Carlos Cueva Cano of Honduras, was detained while interviews were conducted with two passengers inside the vehicle.
The two passengers, both undocumented aliens, told troopers that they had each paid the driver $1,500 for transportiion to Florida. The aliens were turned over to the U.S. Border Patrol while Mr. Cueva Cano, the driver, was arrested and delivered to the Hernando County Detention Center in Brooksville, Florida, charged with two counts of human smuggling, driving with no valid driver's license, operating an unregistered vehicle and possession of a counterfeit tag.
Sumter County
Just minutes after the first traffic stop - at 3:07 pm - FHP troopers on Interstate-75 in Sumter County, Florida initiated a traffic stop on a 2009 Ford E-350 passenger van, due to a window tint violation. The driver, 37 year-old Gustavo Santiago Cruz, of Mexico, possessed a valid Washington driver's license, but he also had a suspended Florida driver's license and was detained.
Interviews with Santiago Cruz's four male passengers revealed that all were undocumented aliens from Mexico, and each had paid Santiago Cruz $200 for transport to Florida. The passengers were delivered to the U.S. Border Patrol, while the driver was arrested and delivered to the Sumter County Detention Center in Bushnell, Florida, charged with four counts of human smuggling and driving with a suspended license.