Human smugglers prosecuted after ransoming the lives of Cuban immigrants

Three Cuban-born men identified as Didier Perez Perez, Lester Leyniel Soca Diaz, and Yoandy Alonso were indicted Thursday by a Grand Jury in the Southern District of Florida in Miami for smuggling Cuban immigrants into the United States and holding them hostage for a ransom.

The men brought the immigrants to Monroe County, Florida, and then hid them in a home in Hialeah until they received payment.

The three men were arrested at the location where they were hiding the immigrants, for whom they were demanding a $15,000 ransom after a friend of one of the victims led them to the location where the money was supposed to be paid. A safe house that, according to federal documents, is located at 1200 East and 9th Avenue in Hialeah.

According to authorities, the immigrants were threatened to be left in the middle of the ocean if they did not pay their smuggling debts.

The three men were charged with conspiracy to transport and harbor aliens for profit; transporting aliens for profit; conspiracy to commit hostage taking; and hostage-taking.

All three defendants are being held pending trial.

This case was a joint operation of the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations Division, and the Hialeah Police Department.