Troopers from the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) found a stash of gift cards and more than 30 gallons of fuel during a traffic stop along a route used to smuggle undocumented aliens into Florida.
According to FHP public information officer Sgt. Steve Gaskins, at 1 p.m. on Nov. 9, Troopers stopped a 2008 Chevy Tahoe on I-75 near mile marker 309 in Sumter County on grounds that the vehicle had an illegal window tint. Similar stops in Sumter and Hernando counties resulted in the discovery of undocumented aliens being transported to locations in Florida.
During a search of the vehicle, Troopers found 32 different credit and gift cards issued to multiple persons, as well as several containers filled with 36 gallons of fuel, and two fuel pump keys used to access the interior of fuel pumps.
The vehicle’s driver, 42-year-old Michael Boza Rodriguez of Tampa was arrested and booked into the Sumter County Jail on multiple charges of credit card fraud and unlawful conveyance of fuel.
The case is pending.
