Two out of state drivers arrested on I-75, charged with smuggling illegal aliens into Florida
Florida Highway Patrol (FHP)
Traffic stops conducted in Florida by the Florida Highway Patrol on Interstate 75, on June 29 and June 30, 2022, resulted in the arrest of two men on human smuggling charges and nine illegal aliens being taken into custody by border patrol agents.
Sumter County, Florida arrest, June 29
The June 29 traffic stop was conducted about 11:15 am on a 2008 silver Ford Explorer sport utility vehicle that was traveling south in the outside lane of Interstate 75, near Exit 309, in Bushnell (Sumter County), Florida, due to the vehicle's attached temporary Texas tag being expired as of May 5, 2022, and the front windshield having a large horizontal crack obstructing the driver's view.
The driver, Jose Guadalupe Juarez, 69, of Pasadena, Texas, appeared to be "overly nervous" during his interaction with the trooper, according to the arrest report. Mr. Juarez told the trooper that he was traveling from Houston, Texas to Ruskin, Florida. He was unable to provide the trooper with the vehicle's registration and insurance, the report stated, and he had to think before coming up with the name of his passenger, "Aron" (Aron Lopez Ibarra, age 42, of Mexico), whom he identified as "another worker" he'd known for ten years.
Mr. Lopez Ibarra was identified by his Mexican Passport, which had no stamps, and his Mexican Identification card. The trooper documented, that based on his experience and training, he suspected that Mr. Juarez may be smuggling an undocumented alien. Mr. Juarez told the trooper that he would be making a fast turnaround back to Texas, while Mr. Lopez would be staying in Ruskin to work with his (Mr. Juarez's) brother, Oscar Juarez, for ten years.
When a border patrol agent confirmed that Mr. Lopez was in the U.S. illegally after having been previously deported, Mr. Juarez admitted that he'd just met Mr. Lopez Ibarra in person, a week or two previously, and that his brother was paying him $1,000 to transport Lopez Ibarra to Florida to work for him.
Mr. Lopez admitted that he's in the country illegally, and he was planning to work for Mr. Juarez's brother as payment for being transported to Florida.
Mr. Lopez Ibarra, who was in possession of $800 in "crisp new $100 dollar bills," according to the report, was taken into custody by the border patrol agent, while Mr. Juarez was arrested by the FHP trooper and transported to the Sumter County Jail in Bushnell, Florida, charged with smuggling an illegal individual into the State of Florida.
Hernando County, Florida arrest, June 30
On June 30, about 6:44 pm, a FHP trooper patrolling Interstate 75 in Hernando County, Florida observed a white Chevrolet Express cargo van, traveling south, with "obviously darker than legal, completely non transparent windows," according to the report. The trooper conducted a traffic stop, due to the window tint infraction, near mile marker 299.
Driver Javier Palma Jenaro, 40, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, provided the FHP trooper with his Mexican passport and an expired Mexican driver's license.
The driver carried eight occupants in the van, who were all wearing florescent yellow shirts. The driver said they had been working all day and were traveling from Marianna, Florida to Naples, Florida.
Mr. Palma Jenaro was detained due to his expired driver's license, and a border patrol agent determined that the other eight occupants of the van were all in the U.S. illegally. The eight occupants stated that they had traveled from Alabama into Florida, but were unable to provide additional information. However, license plate reader checks provided information that the van had been traveling east on Interstate 40 in Gallup, New Mexico on June 28, 2022 and traveling east in Birmingham, Alabama on June 29, 2022.
Several record ledgers were located and taken into evidence. Driver Palma Jenaro also provided information to law enforcement. He said that he'd received a call, while he was in Mllwaukee, to travel to Arizona to transport a load of illegal aliens to Florida. He said he'd done this several times before, and he makes $250 per person for transporting them. He said, that prior to the traffic stop, he'd dropped off three people at another location in Florida. He said he'd picked up the eight people currently inside the van at a park in Phoenix, Arizona on June 28, 2022, and he was supposed to drop them off at Love's Travel Stop in Fort Myers, Florida.
Mr. Palma Jenaro, who was found to be in possession of $3,700 in U.S. currency, was transported to the Hernando County Jail in Brooksville, Florida, charged with operating a motor vehicle without a valid license, and eight counts of smuggling an illegal individual into the State of Florida.