Four men from Mexico who had paid for passage to Florida were found with a human smuggler in Sumter County.
Gustavo Santiago Cruz, 37, who resides in Arcadia, Fla., was driving a white-and-blue Ford van towing a trailer at 3 p.m. Monday near Mile Marker 310 on Interstate 75 when a Florida Highway Patrol trooper noticed the van had windows tinted beyond the legal limit. The van had a Florida license plate and the trailer had a Michigan license plate. Cruz was traveling with his young son and daughter.
Three adult men were found “concealed” behind the second row seating of the van, the arrest report said. The men were “disheveled” and were “wedged in with luggage and other belongings.” The trooper asked if anyone was concealed with the luggage and a fourth man revealed himself. Three of the four men offered Mexican identification cards. All four men said they were traveling from Michigan to Florida. Three of the men said they had met Cruz in Michigan and the fourth man said he had known Cruz for several years. Cruz charged each man $200 for transport to Florida and agreed to find them labor opportunities in the Sunshine State. The men indicated they do various types of field work.
Cruz claimed he did not know the men’s immigration status. A search of his van turned up “pay stubs for various men and women.”
He was arrested on four counts of human smuggling and booked at the Sumter County Detention Center. His children were turned over to their grandparents. A hold on his custody was placed by Homeland Security.