Alleged Brazilian people smuggler charged in Massachusetts
PUBLISHED
OCT 4, 2022 06:49PM EDT
By Gabriel Stargardter
RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 4 (Reuters) - An alleged Brazilian people smuggler, profiled by Reuters last year, has been charged with human smuggling in the United States along with his brother and nephew, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts said on Tuesday.
Chelbe Moraes was arrested in Paraguay in 2021 for allegedly absconding there with his young daughter, for which he is now on trial in Brazil. After his arrest, Brazil's Federal Police began to suspect he was a human smuggler, one of a number who were helping drive record arrests of Brazilians on the southern U.S. border.
The Federal Police accused him of charging Brazilians without valid U.S. visas around $20,000 each to enter the United States via Mexico, using an international network of corrupt police and officials as well as U.S-based family members.
At the time of the story's publication in October last year, Moraes denied to Reuters that he was a human smuggler, saying he ran a legitimate consultancy advising people on U.S. asylum claims. He said he charged those who met U.S. criteria up to 100,000 reais to help them migrate.
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Brazilian citizen Chelbe Willams Moraes is handed a document as he is expulsed from Paraguay, in an unknown location, June 7, 2021. (Courtesy of Direccion General De Migraciones Paraguay/Handout via REUTERS)
