Fagner Chaves De Lima, Attempted Human Smuggling, Massachusetts 2026

BOSTON – A Connecticut man has been accused of attempting to smuggle an individual from Brazil into the United States, according to a federal indictment. Fagner Chaves De Lima, 41, of East Hartford, Connecticut, was arrested yesterday on charges that he allegedly orchestrated an elaborate and manipulative human smuggling operation.

It is alleged that De Lima made arrangements for victims to travel from Brazil to the United States, and then extorted the vulnerable victims and their families for more money, even threatening harm. The U.S. Attorney’s Office stated that De Lima’s actions were an affront to human dignity and a danger to national security.

De Lima allegedly ran a business that illegally smuggled individuals from Brazil into the United States. In exchange for payments of thousands of dollars, De Lima made travel arrangements for clients to illegally enter the United States from Brazil by plane or bus and arranged lodging accommodations for clients during their travel.

According to charging documents, De Lima extorted clients while their journey to the United States was underway by threatening to harm them and/or their family if they did not pay additional money. In May and June 2022, an undercover agent initiated communications with De Lima over WhatsApp under the guise that the agent sought to have his sister and niece smuggled into the United States.

De Lima allegedly agreed to the arrangement for $15,000 and stated during these communications that he had been engaged in human smuggling ‘for 20 years.’ On June 16, 2022, De Lima traveled to Worcester to meet with the undercover agent, during which De Lima allegedly accepted two checks for the agreed-upon total of $15,000 in exchange for his smuggling services.

De Lima will appear in federal court in Worcester today before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge David H. Hennessy. The charge of attempted human smuggling provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI Boston Division made the announcement. Valuable assistance was provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Yuma Field Office; Homeland Security Investigations in Yuma; U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division; and the Marlborough, Worcester, Hartford (Conn.), and East Hartford (Conn.) Police Departments.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John T. Mulcahy of Rollins’ Civil Rights Enforcement Team is prosecuting the case. Fagner Chaves De Lima, 41, of East Hartford, Connecticut, faces one count of attempted human smuggling.

Contact: U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts.

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