A Cuban national involved in a $20 million human smuggling operation that transported hundreds of Cubans into the United States was convicted by a federal jury Thursday, according to the Department of Justice. He faces a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
Lazaro Alain Cabrera-Rodriguez, 28, of Florida, was found guilty for his role in the smuggling and money laundering network dismantled last year. The travel agency linked to the scheme charged customers between $1,500 and $40,000 for fraudulent immigration services.
From January 2021 through June 2025, the agency allegedly advertised fake visa services and misled Cuban nationals into believing they could lawfully enter the United States by falsely claiming to be European citizens.
“Lazaro Alain Cabrera-Rodriguez used his travel agency as a front to illegally smuggle Cuban aliens into the United States,” said A. Tysen Duva, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
The agency gave the operation an appearance of legitimacy, helping it avoid detection, Duva said. Cabrera-Rodriguez allegedly submitted at least 600 false visa waiver applications, arranged flights from Cuba to third countries, coordinated with smugglers across the Americas and laundered more than $20 million through 57 bank accounts.
According to the DOJ, Cabrera-Rodriguez’s company, “ASESORIA Y SERVICIOS MIGRATORIOS LLC,” created fraudulent documents, chartered private aircraft and moved illicit funds through the Zelle payment platform.
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The business promoted itself on social media as an organization that helped immigrants complete permits and asylum applications. In reality, prosecutors said, the defendants submitted hundreds of fraudulent Electronic System for Travel Authorization, or ESTA, applications to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
“It was a criminal enterprise built on treating people like cargo and using their desperation for financial gain,” said Nicholas Ingegno, acting special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Tampa.
“Alien smuggling organizations do not provide a service; they exploit vulnerable people for profit while undermining the integrity of our borders and immigration system,” Ingegno said.
Cabrera-Rodriguez was convicted of conspiracy to commit alien smuggling for financial gain, conspiracy to commit international money laundering and conspiracy to conceal money laundering.
His sentencing hearing is set for Dec. 17. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.
Twelve other defendants charged in the case have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. A 13th defendant, 24-year-old Erik Ventura-Castro, was sentenced to 30 months in prison in July.
The indictments were brought as part of the Justice Department’s Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative targeting illegal immigration and transnational crime.
