FL Woman Who Smuggled $100K Into US From Cuba Pleads Guilty: US DOJ

TAMPA, FL — A Tampa woman pleaded guilty to charges related to smuggling more than $100,000 into the United States from Cuba, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.

Mirtza Ocana, 39, pleaded guilty to one county of bulk cash smuggling and one count of conspiracy to commit bulk cash smuggling.

She faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. A sentencing date hasn’t been set yet.
Ocana returned to the U.S. on a flight from Cuba on Feb. 5.

Despite telling U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents that she had no cash to declare, Ocana concealed more than $31,000 in her luggage, the DOJ said.

After agents found this cash, she admitted that she frequently smuggled cash into the U.S. from Cuba and that she had done so two to three times per month since June 2023. She also told agents that she was paid between $1,000 and $2,500 each time she smuggled cash.

Agents searched Ocana and discovered an additional $71,300 in cash hidden in her clothes.
In total, agents found approximately $102,700 in cash concealed both in Ocana’s clothes and in her luggage, the DOJ said.