TAMPA, Fla. — Over $100,000 was confiscated at Tampa International Airport after a Tampa woman allegedly smuggled it back to the U.S. from Cuba, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
According to a news release, authorities arrested 38-year-old Mirtza Ocana after the Department of Homeland Security found three packages of approximately $30,000 in cash during a routine inspection of her luggage. Agents later found $70,000 in cash hidden in her clothes.
She originally claimed to have no more than $10,000 on her, which is a limit that would trigger airport reporting requirements.
The DOJ says Ocana then admitted to authorities she flew from Cuba to Tampa two to three times per month to smuggle cash into the U.S. and said she knew not reporting it was illegal.
Ocana's flight history later revealed that she's reportedly flown from Cuba to Tampa 45 times since May 2023.
Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol are still investigating.
If convicted, Ocana faces a maximum of five years in federal prison.
