2024-02-08 17:00:00
Photo: Rebekah Zemansky | Shutterstock (reference image)
Text: Editorial Cuba Noticias 360
A Cuban-American woman was detained at the Tampa airport for bringing in more than 100,000 dollars (USD) from the island, according to a note from the US Department of Justice.
The text reports that federal prosecutor Roger B. Handberg announced “the arrest and filing of a criminal complaint accusing Mirtza Ocaña of smuggling more than $100,000 in U.S. currency into the United States from Cuba.”
According to the complaint, the 38-year-old woman arrived at Tampa International Airport on an international flight from Cuba on February 5, 2024.
In his statement, Ocaña said he had no more than $10,000 on him, “a limit that would trigger reporting requirements,” so he had nothing to declare.
“However, during a routine inspection of his luggage, Department of Homeland Security agents recovered approximately $30,000 in cash hidden in three wrapped packages,” the text continues.
The Cuban-American later admitted that she flew from Cuba to Tampa two or three times a month to “smuggle cash into the US and that she knew that bringing large amounts of cash into the US without reporting it was illegal.” .
In addition, it was learned that after the agents’ search, an additional USD 70,000 in cash was discovered hidden in his clothes.
“Ocaña’s flight history later revealed that he had flown from Cuba to Tampa 45 times since May 2023,” adds the note from the US Department of Justice.
Later, the entity insists that “a complaint is simply a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.” .
However, he warns that if the woman is found guilty of all charges, she would face a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.
The case is currently being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the US Customs and Border Patrol and will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael J. Buchanan.
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