Honduran cousins illegally in the United States were nabbed on Interstate 75 in Sumter County.
The three men were traveling at about 4 p.m. Tuesday in a red 2003 Ford Expedition southbound on I-75 near Mile Marker 314 when the vehicle was pulled over due to a suspected window tint violation, according to an arrest report from the Florida Highway Patrol.
The driver and registered owner of the vehicle was identified by his Honduran identification card as 38-year-old David Vallecillo Paz. An interpreter had to be called to the scene of the traffic stop. Vallecillo Paz and two passengers, also identified as Hondurans, were “overtly nervous,” the report said.
Vallecillo Paz said the two men were his cousins. He said they were traveling from Houston, Texas to Fort Myers because, “Due to COVID-19, there is no work in Texas.” He said he does kitchen countertop work.
Vallecillo Paz admitted he knew it is unlawful to transport people who illegally entered the United States into the State of Florida.
He was arrested on two felony counts of human smuggling and a misdemeanor charge of driving without a license.
This is the fifth recent human smuggling arrest on I-75 in Sumter County:
• On Oct. 21 a vehicle with heavily tinted windows was found to be carrying two males from Guatemala and the two females from Mexico. It was determined they had paid for transit to Florida with additional payment required once they arrived at their destination.
• A white Nissan Armada was pulled over Nov. 4 with three passengers who were “disheveled and unbathed.” One of the passengers, a 29-year-old woman, admitted to illegally entering the United States three days earlier. She said she had been at a “stash house” near Juarez.
• Four illegal immigrants were taken into custody on Nov. 8 as they were being transported from Michigan to Florida, where they indicated they would be seeking field work. The driver, who was traveling with his two young children, was arrested.
• A man with a sport utility vehicle full of illegal immigrants was arrested on Nov. 16. There were five men in the vehicle who were from Mexico who had traveled illegally into Arizona. They made it to Tuscaloosa, Ala. where each paid $200 to $300 for transport to Tampa. The men appeared to be “extremely disheveled.” One of the men described being in a “stash house” in Arizona with 20-30 migrants.
