Deputy uncovers human smuggling operation



Feb 08, 2012 3:13 PM CST<em class="wnDate">Wednesday, February 8, 2012 4:13 PM EST</em>By Meaghan Smith, NBC2 Reporter -

More on illegal smuggling in video.
http://www.nbc-2.com/story/16769707/...clipId=6722197




Brissel Johanna Reyes-Fajardo


LEE COUNTY, FL -

A Lee County deputy conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle on I-75 and discovered a human smuggling operation, according to Lee County Sheriff's Office reports.

On Tuesday afternoon, the deputy was patrolling southbound I-75 when he spotted a 1999 Ford Mustang with Texas plates that had tint that appeared darker than the legal limit. The deputy conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle.

The driver was identified as Brissel Johanna Reyes-Fajardo from Houston Texas. She admitted to the deputy she did not have a valid driver's license, reports said.

The two passengers in her car were identified as a 17-year-old girl and 16-year-old boy. Reyes-Fajardo told the deputy she was taking them to their family in Miami, reports said.

"Further questioning of the occupants of the vehicle, of the two juveniles, we learned they'd been smuggled into the country," said Larry King, with the Lee County Sheriff's Office.

The driver finally admitted to the deputy she was transporting the two, who were in the country illegally, from Houston to Miami, reports said.
Reyes-Fajardo said she was paid to transport the illegal immigrants.

She told the deputy she started out with four passengers in Houston and dropped one off in Tallahassee and one off in Orlando, reports said.
The two passengers allegedly admitted to paying Reyes-Fajardo to take them from Texas to Miami and to entering the US illegally.

Reyes-Fajardo was arrested and charged with operating a motor vehicle without a license and four counts of smuggling an illegal into the state.
The teens were handed over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

"They'll make a determination on how best to handle the situation," King said.

Over at Catholic Charities, Alex Olivares works with victims of human smuggling and trafficking.

He explains that they're often lied to and transported with broken promises.

"[They're promised] they're going to see a distant cousin, a family member or anything like that," he said.

But then, he says, once they've reached their destination, everything changes.

"They're lied to completely and they're taken somewhere else and then they're either trafficked for commercial sex or labor trafficking," he said.

NBC2