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Costa Rican Woman Pleads Guilty in Human Smuggling Conspiracy
A 49-year-old Costa Rican woman has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to smuggle more than 25 undocumented immigrants to the United States.
Mercedes Morera Roche was extradited to the US from Panama on Aug. 21, 2014, to face charges in connection with the smuggling operation.
According to her plea agreement, Roche admitted to being an organizer of a human smuggling network that provided instructions, fraudulent identity and travel documents, escorts, transport, safe house locations, and other assistance to facilitate the illicit travel of undocumented immigrants to the US.
Roche admitted to providing fraudulent passports to undocumented immigrants, allowing them to fly to the US with the help of corrupt foreign airline and immigration officials. She instructed the immigrants to destroy the fraudulent documents during flights before landing at US airports and told them how to engage with authorities at the airports.
The investigation was conducted under the Extraterritorial Criminal Travel Strike Force (ECT) program, a joint partnership between the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and HSI. Roche’s sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 11, 2014, before U.S. District Court Judge Ursula M. Ungaro of the Southern District of Florida.
The investigation was conducted by HSI’s Washington, D.C. Field Office with support from the Human Smuggling Trafficking Center and U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s National Targeting Center. Critical assistance was also provided by HSI’s Miami Field Office and the ICE Attaché Office in Panama.
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RELATED: Costa Rican Woman Smugs 25 Undocumented Immigrants
Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Category: Human Trafficking
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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