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The arrest in Cancún of the Cuban citizen Remigio Valdez Lao, alias “El Milo”, has opened a new chapter in the investigation into the transnational criminal organization known as the Cuban-American Mafia.
Beyond the operation, the focus now is on who the man identified by the authorities of Mexico and the United States is as the financial and operational mastermind of a network that turned Cuban migration into a business of kidnappings, extortion, and violence.
Valdez Lao was not a minor member. Mexico's Security Cabinet asserts that this man coordinated the logistics and money flow of the Cuban-American Mafia, a criminal network operating in Cuba, Mexico, Spain, and southern Florida.
His capture, carried out by Mexican federal forces in the Arbolada Residential subdivision in Benito Juárez, occurred in response to an extradition order issued by the Southern District Court of Florida for human trafficking, drug trafficking, and international smuggling.
The history of "El Milo" indicates a long-standing criminal record
The network has been operating since at least 2009 and its base of operations was in Cancun, Isla Mujeres, and Cozumel. Its main business involved identifying Cuban migrants who arrived irregularly on the shores of Quintana Roo, kidnapping them, and demanding ransoms of up to $10,000 per person from their relatives in the United States.
In 2015, El Milo was arrested in Cancún for possession of cocaine and marijuana but regained his freedom after posting bail. Years earlier, media in Florida had linked him to shoplifting incidents in Sarasota.
Time passed, and his name reemerged in intelligence reports that described the network's evolution toward alliances with affiliates of the Sinaloa Cartel to strengthen human trafficking routes.
Legal documents in the United States describe a brutal scheme: Cuban migrants held captive, threatened with torture, starvation, and death if their relatives did not pay ransoms of up to $10,000. Those who could not cover these sums were beaten and subjected to electric shocks.
With his transfer to Mexico City to begin the extradition process, "El Milo" now faces the most complex scenario of his criminal career. His downfall does not completely dismantle the network, but it does strike a blow to its financial command center.
Alongside "El Milo," Joseline García Biscaino was arrested, alleged member of the criminal group. During the operation, 38 doses of marijuana and a gray pickup truck were confiscated.
Judicial documents from the Department of Justice of the United States indicate that the members of the network threatened to "torture, starve, and kill the victims" if the relatives refused to pay.
In October 2023, a jury in Miami found Javier Hernández, a fifty-year-old Cuban resident of Miami Beach, guilty of being sentenced to 95 months in federal prison for boat theft and money laundering. Six other Cuban citizens residing in Mexico pleaded guilty to conspiracy and human smuggling.
The Mexican Security Cabinet stated that the arrest "represents a direct impact on the operational capacity of the criminal group and is a result of international cooperation mechanisms based on respect for sovereignty."
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