2 Men Tried To Smuggle 23 Cuban Migrants Into FL: Sheriff

FLORIDA KEYS — Two men were arrested and charged with 23 counts of human smuggling after trying to bring 23 Cuban migrants into Florida, according to a Monroe County Sheriff’s Office news release.

Deputies found Oreste Carvajal Gonzalez, 33, of Miami-Dade County and Roberto Carlos Medina Moreno, 19, of Lakewood, Florida, on July 21 with the migrants on a go-fast boat that ran out of gas in waters near Marathon, the sheriff’s office said. Warrants were issued for their arrest.

Their boat was known as a suspected migrant smuggling vessel to the sheriff’s office based on previous interactions with law enforcement, the agency said.

The State Attorney’s Office, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations, U.S. Border Patrol, and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations assisted in the investigation.

Carvajal Gonzalez and Medina Moreno were booked into jail.