U.S. Jury Convicts Travel Agency Operator in $20 Million Human Smuggling and Money Laundering Conspiracy

A federal jury in the Middle District of Florida has convicted Lazaro Alain Cabrera-Rodriguez for his role in an international human smuggling operation and related money laundering conspiracies.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the organisation encouraged thousands of Cuban nationals to enter the United States through the southern border and charged between $1,500 and $40,000 for smuggling services. The network sometimes chartered private aircraft and used fraudulent ESTA applications containing false information.

Cabrera-Rodriguez helped move people from countries including Cuba into the United States, including by purchasing international and domestic flights. The DOJ said Cabrera-Rodriguez and his co-conspirators regularly moved funds to companies outside the United States and transmitted more than $600,000 from the United States between 2021 and 2024 to purchase flights used in the scheme.

The broader organisation moved more than $20 million through approximately 57 bank accounts, according to evidence described by prosecutors.

The jury convicted Cabrera-Rodriguez of conspiracy to commit alien smuggling for financial gain, conspiracy to commit international money laundering and conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering.

Source

U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, “Cuban National Convicted for International Alien Smuggling and Money Laundering Conspiracy”, 25 September 2026.