Arturo Verdecia, father of one of the Cuban rafters who died in the shipwreck that occurred in November 2022, stated that he was deceived by the Florida woman who was arrested the previous week and held responsible for the smuggling operation that led to the death of 16 people, including several children.
Her son, also named Arturo Verdecia, was 30 years old when he lost his life in the fateful journey, which departed on November 16, 2022 from the town of Jaimanitas, in western Havana.
In an exclusive interview with Telemundo 51, Verdecia pointed out: "Today I received a call from the investigator handling the case and they told me that yes, the first person involved had been arrested and that I was deceived by her."
Yaquelin Domínguez Nieves, 25 years old and a resident of Sebring, Florida, was arrested last Friday, accused of 10 federal charges for her involvement in a human smuggling operation in which 16 people drowned, four of whom were recovered from the sea, according to the formal accusation by the Federal Prosecutor's Office of the Southern District of Florida.
Verdecia told the television channel that one person organized the trip in Cuba and Domínguez collected part of the money in Florida.
"My son called me and said: 'Look, dad, there's a girl who is the cousin of this man...'. I called her... She was telling me: 'Yes, yes, the boat leaves today...'. As indeed, it left that day at 1 in the morning. 'Everything is going to be safe... he is coming with my cousin, because they are friends'. Well... it didn't seem like a business trip... she asked for the $6,000 to contribute to the fuel," the father revealed.
The immigrants left Jaimanitas aboard the boat "El Alba", but there were not six people as initially promised to Verdecia.
"Nineteen people left... including underage children," he recalled. "And that's when the tragedy began... I searched for him through all channels... In the end, on November 19th, the investigators called me to give me the news that they had found my son, but he had passed away."
"They say that when the boat capsized, my son was wearing a life jacket, but he started helping the children who were inside the boat, to see if they could get them out," the father recounted.
In his desperation, Verdecia tried to communicate with Domínguez. "He didn't want to answer me anymore. I saw that he wasn't coming, so I started calling her to see what she knew about her supposed cousin, and there came a moment when she didn't want to answer me anymore."
My son is going to turn two years dead this coming November 16, and I tell everyone that this is the greatest pain that a father and mother can endure," Verdecia expressed.
The vessel in which at least 19 people were traveling to the United States sank approximately 30 miles off the coast of Cuba.
The cousin of one of the victims told the channel that, due to bad weather, water began to enter the boat, and its occupants asked the captain to return because they were afraid, due to the problems with the boat.
The statement from the Prosecutor's Office asserts that a survivor mentioned that the boat was overloaded and did not contain a single life jacket.
After the shipwreck of "El Alba", Alexander Piloto was rescued by another boat, which shortly after also capsized, leaving several victims. Piloto and eight rafters from that second vessel were rescued by a merchant ship, which called the United States Coast Guard. He was repatriated to Cuba.
Domínguez is awaiting trial and could face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment or even the death penalty. There are three other individuals accused in this case, authorities reported.
Markenzy Lapointe, federal prosecutor for the Southern District of Florida, stated: "Human trafficking organizations put migrants' lives at risk in order to make profits. Human traffickers take advantage of immigrants' hopes for a better life. Tragically, the exploits of the smugglers pose a serious danger to migrants."
Lapointe added that the United States Attorney's Office aims to protect vulnerable migrants and save lives, so it will prosecute those who carry out illicit human trafficking operations.
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