The Palm Beach Post

Immigration officials arrest seven in Cuban smuggling ring

October 23rd, 2009 by The Associated Press

FORT PIERCE - Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say they have dismantled a Cuban smuggling ring operating on Florida’s Atlantic coast.

ICE spokeswoman Nicole Navas said agents arrested seven people Oct. 15. Local police arrested another suspect on drug charges. Another remains at large, officials said.

The alleged Port St. Lucie-based group faces charges including conspiring to smuggle Cubans into the country between June and December of 2008. They could face decades behind bars if convicted.

Overall, Cuban migration has plummeted in the last year. Authorities attribute the drop to stepped up investigations and prosecutions, the lifting of some U.S. travel restrictions, a bad economy and a crackdown on the communist island.

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6 Responses to “Immigration officials arrest seven in Cuban smuggling ring”

  1. tyrod Says:

    why are they leaving Cuba? don’t they have free healthcare, equality and no racism? the media always tell me cuba’s a socialist paradise.

    why are they leaving?

  2. HaaS19 Says:

    Why do you get more time in jail for smuggling Cubans into the country than you do for rape or molesting a child?

  3. VANESSA Says:

    FREE HEALTHCARE? ARE YOU SERIOUS? YOU ARE NUTS TYROD! GO SPEND A WEEKEND IN CUBA AND GIVE ME 1 REASON WHY YOU WOULD WANT TO STAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  4. john no freedom Says:

    ICE should not allowed anymore cubans to enter USA illigally because most of the cuban women think they’re GOD and they think they’re better than anybody else.Compare to the colombian women they’re very educated and color blind and they’re not prejudice,they make everybody feel comfortable around them.They should stop these cuban women entering UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ILLIGALLY.

  5. dee Says:

    Where are you living tyrod, under a rock? Healthcare doesn’t mean anything when the people are dying of hunger! They have to smuggle food just to feed their families. John sounds like a Cuban woman treated you like crap. Maybe Colombians treat you so nice because they are all illegal and need papers. Cubans don’t need men for that, so they probably treat people the way they deserve. By the way, go learn how to spell while you are at it.

  6. Luiggi Says:

    I DON´T UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE KEEP COMING TO THE U.S. (LEGALY OR ILLEGALY) LOOKING FOR A BETTER LIFE. THESE IMMIGRANTS HAVE NO IDEA OF THE CURRENT ECONOMIC STRUGGLES ON THIS “LAND OF THE OPPORTUNITY”, AND THE BUSTED “AMERICAN DREAM” TURNED INTO A NIGHTMARE FOR MOST MIDDLE CLASS AMERICANS, AND THE PICTURE KEEPS TURNING BLEAKER……

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