Authorities in Texas have arrested two Cuban nationals residing in Florida for smuggling migrants near a border crossing. Chris Olivarez, spokesperson for the state's Department of Public Safety, announced on his profile on X that members of the department stopped a Chevrolet Malibu on US-277 in Kinney County driven by two Cubans.
"Officers discovered that the driver, Diojany Carrillo Rodríguez of Florida, and the passenger, Dariel Ibáñez Hernández, a Cuban who has a pending hearing in the United States Court regarding his citizenship, were smuggling two illegal migrants from Mexico," the report stated.
After being detained, Rodríguez declared that he had a GPS location for Houston and had picked up the migrants in Eagle Pass. "They waved me down and said, 'Hey, pick me up, pick me up, we're stranded,'" he explained.
The detainees are now accused of human trafficking. The agents handed over the two illegal migrants to the United States Border Patrol. The report did not specify their nationalities.
Several Cubans have been arrested for the same offense in the context of the island's migrant crisis. On June 20, Texas authorities captured an illegal Cuban immigrant accused of multiple crimes, including trafficking and sexual assault. Raysel Carrion-Tamayo, 34, has a criminal history that includes previous arrests for commercial sexual trafficking, aggravated sexual assault, aggravated promotion of prostitution, human trafficking, continuous sexual assault, and inadmissibility of foreigners.
Additionally, police in Glendale, Los Angeles, detained Cuban Emmanuel Garcia Guzman, accused of trafficking migrants from the island to later prostitute them. According to the report, Guzman was arrested in late June during an undercover operation in the California city, part of the United States' actions against human trafficking involving Cuban nationals in areas such as Houston, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Miami.
In March, two other Cubans were arrested for migrant trafficking. They were detained by Border Patrol agents (USBP) in New Mexico after being discovered in a smuggling operation involving 23 undocumented individuals.
Key Insights into Cuban Migrant Smuggling Cases
The following questions and answers provide crucial details regarding the recent arrests of Cuban nationals involved in migrant smuggling to the United States.
Who were the Cuban nationals arrested in Texas for migrant smuggling?
Diojany Carrillo Rodríguez and Dariel Ibáñez Hernández were the two Cuban nationals arrested in Texas for smuggling migrants.
What charges are the detainees facing?
Rodríguez and Hernández are facing charges of human trafficking.
Where were the migrants picked up?
The migrants were picked up in Eagle Pass, Texas.