FLORIDA, United States — Five Cuban nationals and a US citizen have been sentenced for their roles in a criminal operation that smuggled thousands of Cuban migrants into the United States using illegal border crossings and fraudulent visa applications.

The six defendants were involved in a conspiracy that also included asylum fraud and money laundering, with migrants reportedly charged between US$1,500 and US$40,000 for smuggling services. In some cases, co-conspirators chartered private aircraft to transport groups of migrants.

According to court documents, the group operated an alien smuggling organisation that encouraged or assisted thousands of Cuban nationals to enter the US illegally. Its methods included moving people across the southern border and using fraudulent Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) applications to facilitate entry through official ports.

The defendants advertised their services on multiple social media platforms targeting Cubans living on the island. They offered assistance with obtaining European citizenship and using European tourist visa waivers to enter the US.

Investigators found that the organisation submitted hundreds of fraudulent ESTA applications to US Customs and Border Protection, using false addresses and other misleading information. Cuban residents are not eligible for the ESTA programme, and the applications falsely claimed that applicants had not been in Cuba since 2011, despite the defendants knowing they were living there.

The operation also ran a fraudulent immigration benefits business, helping migrants file false asylum applications after arriving in the US in an effort to remain in the country.

Those sentenced were Liannys Yaiselys Vega-Perez, 27; Miguel Martinez Vasconcelos, 31; Layra Libertad Treto Santos, 30; Luis Emmanuel Escalona-Marrero, 32; Walbis Pozo-Dutel, 32; and Emanuel Martinez Gonzalez, 29.

Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said the defendants had turned illegal immigration into a multimillion-dollar enterprise, using smuggling and money laundering to generate and conceal profits.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) said the case exposed a transnational criminal organisation that exploited vulnerable people, manufactured fraudulent immigration claims and laundered millions of dollars.