The Justice Department secured a conviction this week against Lazaro Alain Cabrera-Rodriguez for running a $20 million smuggling and money-laundering operation through a Florida travel agency. He was convicted on three conspiracy counts and faces up to 20 years at a Dec. 17 sentencing. Prosecutors say the network filed at least 600 fraudulent ESTA applications, laundered over $20 million through 57 bank accounts, and wired more than $600,000 overseas to buy flights between 2021 and 2024. The case is part of DOJ's nationwide Operation Take Back America targeting transnational human smuggling.
Florida Travel Agency Operator Convicted in $20M Scheme That Smuggled Thousands of Cubans
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A federal jury this week convicted Lazaro Alain Cabrera-Rodriguez, 28, of Hialeah, Florida, for operating a $20 million smuggling and money-laundering enterprise that prosecutors say funneled thousands of Cuban migrants into the United States through a Florida-based travel agency.
Charges and Potential Sentence
Cabrera-Rodriguez was found guilty on three conspiracy counts — alien smuggling for financial gain, international money laundering, and money laundering concealment — and faces up to 20 years in prison at his Dec. 17 sentencing.
How the Scheme Worked
Prosecutors say the group submitted at least 600 fraudulent U.S. Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) applications, falsely claiming applicants held European citizenship and had not been on Cuba since 2011. Cuban nationals are not eligible for the visa waiver program, and investigators say the bogus applications were part of a broader effort to conceal migrants' origins and facilitate travel to the U.S.
The defendants allegedly laundered more than $20 million through at least 57 bank accounts, used chartered private planes, and coordinated with smugglers across the Americas. Between 2021 and 2024, the network wired more than $600,000 overseas to purchase flights that transported migrants from Cuba through third countries and then toward the U.S. southern border. Authorities also say Cabrera-Rodriguez arranged domestic flights to move migrants within the United States.
"This travel agency provided a veneer of legitimacy to evade detection," said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. "Alien-smuggling networks prey on vulnerable people and undermine border security."
Acting Special Agent in Charge Nicholas Ingegno of Homeland Security Investigations in Tampa called the operation "a criminal enterprise built on treating people like cargo," emphasizing the human cost of the scheme.
Co-Defendants and Wider Enforcement
Seven co-defendants have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. One co-defendant, Erik Ventura-Castro, 24, was sentenced in July to 30 months in prison. The prosecutions are part of the Justice Department’s Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative targeting transnational human smuggling and cartel networks.
Case Context
The convictions underline federal efforts to disrupt sophisticated smuggling rings that combine fraudulent travel documents, international coordination, and large-scale money laundering to move migrants across borders.
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