FORT MYERS, Fla. — A 19-year-old Texas man was arrested by Florida Highway Patrol for human smuggling Tuesday.
Troopers say they stopped a Lincoln Navigator on I-75 near Mile Marker 145 with fraudulent temporary tags. It was determined during FHP's investigation that the man, Abel Fernando Navas-Salazar of Pasadena, Tex., was transporting illegal immigrants to Miami for financial profit.
Navas-Salazar was charged with four counts of human smuggling (one for each of the passengers in the Navigator at the time), driving without a valid license, operating an unregistered vehicle, and attaching a license tag not assigned.
The four passengers were turned over to federal agents with Homeland Security for immigration processing.
