A 38-year-old lady from Tampa finds herself within the crosshairs of federal authorities, as she stands accused of smuggling $100,000 in money from Cuba into the US.
Mirtza Ocana is charged with conspiracy to commit bulk money smuggling, in line with an indictment from the U.S. District Court docket for the Center District of Florida.
Caught in customs
In accordance with stories, Ocana’s alleged illicit actions got here to mild on February fifth when she landed at Tampa Worldwide Airport on a flight originating from Cuba.
As she went via customs, Ocana maintained that she possessed nothing to declare and denied carrying greater than $10,000 in money.
Nevertheless, a routine baggage inspection carried out by brokers revealed $30,000 secreted inside her baggage, cleverly hid in a number of wrapped packages.
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Additional inspection uncovered an extra $70,000 hid inside Ocana’s apparel.
Confession and doable sentence
Experiences state that Ocana confessed to her involvement within the operation.
She admitted to authorities that she had been engaged in smuggling U.S. forex from Cuba into the US for a number of months.
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She took 2-3 journeys a month to smuggle the money and was paid about $1,000-2,500 per journey.
Information additional indicated she flew from Cuba to Tampa 45 instances since Could 2023.
If convicted on all counts, Ocana faces a most of 5 years in federal jail.
