Oct 23, 2009 10:46 pm US/Eastern
Cuban Smugglers Sentenced, Another Is Still Loose
WEST PALM BEACH (CBS4) ―
Two convicted Cuban alien smugglers have been sentenced to a combined 94 months in prison in a West Palm Beach Courtroom for running a mission that resulted in the death of a migrant. Federal agents are still seeking a third suspect they deem armed and dangerous.
Friday Aurelio Sanchez-Ortega, 21, and Angel Julio Navarro-Lliteras, 36, both of Miami, were sentenced for their participation in an alien smuggling conspiracy that resulted in death in 2007.
On November 14 and 15 of 2007, U.S. Border Patrol Agents received information regarding three possible alien smuggling operations in the area of Juno Beach. Eventually the United States Coast Guard responded and found 34 migrants, including men women and children in the area. They also discovered a deceased migrant, Carlos Alberto Pons-Arias, who drowned during the voyage. The migrants informed agents that they swam from a boat that took them straight from Cuba to the shores of Florida.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agents investigated and several men were arrested in connection with the operation, including Sanchez-Ortega and Navarro-Lliteras. A court found that Sanchez-Ortega was the captain of a 33 foot boat that brought the 35 migrants from Cuba to the U.S. on Nov. 15, 2007. Navarro-Lliteras assisted in the failed smuggling attempt.
Agents are still seeking Luis Arce Perez, who they believe fled to Cuba and is armed and dangerous.
ICE urges anyone with information on his whereabouts to contact them at:
1-866-DHS-2ICE (347-2423).
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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