Crime & Safety
FL Woman Smuggled $100K Into U.S. From Cuba: U.S. DOJ
A Tampa woman flew from Cuba to FL two or three times a month to smuggle U.S. cash into the country, the U.S. DOJ said.
TAMPA, FL — A Tampa woman was arrested for smuggling more than $100,000 in U.S. currency into the country from Cuba, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.
Mirtza Ocana, 38, faces five years in federal prison if convicted on all counts.
When she arrived at Tampa International Airport on an international flight from Cuba on Feb. 5, she claimed she didn’t have more than $10,000 on her and had nothing to declare, the DOJ said.
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During a routine search, Department of Homeland Security agents found about $30,000 in bulk cash concealed in three wrapped packages. Another $70,000 in cash was found hidden in her clothes.
Ocana admitted to the agents that she flew from Cuba to Tampa two to three times a month to smuggle cash into the U.S. and that she knew bringing this money in without reporting it was illegal, according to the DOJ.
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Her flight history showed that she had flown from Cuba to Tampa 45 times since May.
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