Coral Gables

Over 2 dozen in custody after possible human smuggling ring stopped in Coral Gables

Coral Gables Police, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security officials were all at the scene

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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

What to Know

  • Over two dozen people were taken into custody after a possible human smuggling or trafficking operation was stopped in Coral Gables, officials said
  • The incident unfolded when a security guard observed a possible abduction on Old Cutler Road
  • Police responded and stopped a U-Haul van and a Toyota, and discovered more than 20 people in the van, officials said
  • The people in the U-Haul included 6 females and 15 males from China, along with a Cuban man and a woman from Ecuador, Hudak said.
  • In the Toyota were two Cuban men, a Brazilian woman and two men from Ecuador.
  • Authorities believe the group was brought by boat and possibly dropped off on the southern end of Coral Gables before they were loaded into the van

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.

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Footage showed multiple women being patted down and placed in custody near Ingraham Park, where there was a massive law enforcement presence.

Coral Gables Police, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security officials were all at the scene.

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One woman said she saw authorities arresting people near a U-Haul van and saw people being placed on a trolley.

At a Friday afternoon news conference, Coral Gables Police Chief Ed Hudak said 23 people who were found in a U-Haul van and another five people who were in a Toyota were taken into custody.

The people in the U-Haul included 6 females and 15 males from China, along with a Cuban man and a woman from Ecuador, Hudak said.

In the Toyota were two Cuban men, a Brazilian woman and two men from Ecuador. Hudak had initially given different figures which totaled more than 30 people.

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.

Hudak said four of the people in custody are believed to have been behind the operation, including one of the women, and authorities are trying to determine whether it was a smuggling or trafficking ring.

"Smuggling is a criminal assistance to somebody who illegally wants to enter the country," Hudak said. "The human trafficking side is really not, they may have started off trying to enter the country and they get into a nefarious act where individuals are bringing them here for indentured servitude, criminal activity."

Hudak said the incident unfolded around 9:30 a.m. when a "very alert" security guard from a local homeowner's association observed what she believed was an abduction on Old Cutler Road involving the Toyota and U-Haul.

"We responded to this as an abduction in progress," Hudak said. "As a cop, whether it be a child or something else, when you hear that kind of call, it's all hands on deck and that's exactly what you all saw was that every officer in Coral Gables south of U.S. 1 was getting there as quickly as they can."

The security guard notified police and an officer spotted the vehicles, which were stopped by authorities.

Officers quickly noticed the U-Haul was full of people, and all involved were taken into custody and turned over to federal authorities, Hudak said.

Hudak said it's believed the group was brought by boat and possibly dropped off on the southern end of Coral Gables before they were loaded into the van.

Marine patrols were sent out to search for the boat involved but it couldn't be located, Hudak said.

Fire rescue crews responded to make sure all the people were safe, and they were medically cleared before being turned over to federal authorities, Hudak said.

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