West Palm Beach Man Among 5 Charged With Human Smuggling

A West Palm Beach man is one of five suspects accused of smuggling illegal immigrants through Key Largo.

38-year old Victor Gualpa and the other four suspects were taken into custody by Border Patrol agents in Miami-Dade County on Tuesday.

That was two days after the 20 foreign nationals landed by boat in the Keys.

Palm Beach State Attorney Dave Aronberg tells CBS 12 News that human smuggling often leads to other crimes.

"Sometimes they will extort them for more money, but it could also lead to more crimes where they are not just smuggling them in, but then forcing them to commit other crimes to pay the smugglers back. When you start forcing them into labor, or sex, that’s when it can become human trafficking. Then, the penalties are really severe. We’re talking about life penalties.”

The feds opted not to file charges against the alleged smugglers, but the Monroe County Sheriff's Office is pressing state charges.

The migrants came from Ecuador and China. The other suspects are from Miami and Cape Coral and all five face 20 felony counts of human smuggling.

Victor Victor Febales Gualpa, 38, of West Palm Beach

Joel Gil Egued, 48, of Cape Coral

Humberto Tamayo, 48, of Miami

Omar Livan Ripoll Perez, 28, of Miami

Dianelys Perez Escourido, 44, of Miami