MIAMI — A South Florida man has been arrested for his alleged role in a smuggling venture that brought Los Angeles Dodgers star Yasiel Puig out of Cuba.
Court records show that Gilberto Suarez is scheduled to make an initial appearance Thursday in Miami federal court. Suarez is charged with alien smuggling. It wasn’t immediately clear if he had an attorney.
Documents in a civil lawsuit against Puig describe Suarez as one of the Miami-based men who financed Puig’s trip by boat from Cuba to Mexico. The initial price was $250,000, then was raised to $400,000.
An affidavit by a Cuban boxer who was on the trip said the financiers hired men to take them away from the smugglers to Mexico City.
Puig later signed a $42 million contract with the Dodgers.
