Freight Forwarder Pleads Guilty to Illegally Exporting Containers
The owner of Rapid Export Services in Miami pleaded guilty on June 12 to one count of illegally smuggling goods from the U.S., the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida said in a June 20 news release. Juan Carlos Rodriguez Espinoza "faces a maximum statutory sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine," the Department of Justice said. Rodriguez is said to have received 13 containers of alcohol and cigarettes in 2016 from Panama. He then arranged for the containers to be held in-bond at a bonded warehouse operated by Double Ace, Inc.
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The bonded warehouse later exported the containers to the Dominican Republic at the request of Rodriguez, the DOJ said. "Rodriguez, based on instructions he received from his client in the Dominican Republic, instructed employees at Double Ace to change the commodity description on the outgoing bills of lading," it said. "Rodriguez instructed the employees at Double Ace to change the commodity description to the following commodities: paper, raw material, synthetic textiles or hospital supplies (as opposed to cigarettes and alcohol). Rodriguez acted with the intent to conceal the nature of the goods from the customs authorities in the Dominican Republic. Rodriguez knew that providing false information on the bills of lading was contrary to the laws and regulations of the United States."