Image Credit: Dan Lyman 
Federal authorities are targeting illegal aliens who drive for rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft in the state of Florida.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been spearheading Operation Lyft Off, a multi-agency effort to crack down on illegal drivers in the Sunshine State.
Immigration news outlet Border Hawk joined ICE for the third iteration of Operation Lyft Off, which unfolded on Jan. 17 in Cape Canaveral.
Dozens of agents, officers, and deputies from a variety of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies gathered for a pre-dawn raid on parking lots at Port Canaveral, where scores of drivers were waiting for cruise ship passengers to disembark.
Marshall Vliet, Supervisory Detention and Deportation Officer at the ICE Orlando Field Office, led a pre-op huddle during which he stressed the importance of safety and consensual encounters with subjects.
“If the drivers do not want to speak to you, they do not have to. So, if they pull away, let them pull away,” Vliet stated, explaining that Brevard County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) deputies were monitoring roadways for fleeing drivers committing probable cause violations.
“Make sure you guys are taking good tactical positions. You don’t want to be standing in front of a vehicle. We all know what happens when that happens,” Vliet cautioned, referencing an unprecedented surge of ramming attacks on ICE officers over the past year.
“Obviously, we all have the warrior mindset, but we still want to be professional. No disrespecting folks. Let’s treat everybody with respect.”
Just after 6 a.m., a caravan of law enforcement vehicles, accompanied by a detainee transport bus, descended on several lots full of cars and SUVs with individuals waiting or sleeping inside.
Officers immediately began knocking on windows, questioning drivers, and detaining foreigners who were in the U.S. illegally, racking up roughly a dozen arrests before daybreak.
Several subjects attempted to evade by driving away, but they were stopped for moving violations and subsequently questioned by BCSO deputies.
While speaking with drivers who were in the U.S. legally, officers learned that some illegals had adopted new tactics to avoid law enforcement in the wake of previous executions of Operation Lyft Off.
Legally-present drivers resent illegal aliens who steal coveted fares and reportedly even use illicit software to ‘cut in line’ ahead of drivers waiting for new rides.
Illegal drivers were reportedly camped out in parking lots of local restaurants and gas stations, so plans were made for small teams to begin peeling away at random to avoid detection by drivers who communicate with each other via group chats and messaging apps.
While en route to a nearby convenience store, our team came across a minivan that had been stopped by BCSO at a highway on-ramp.
The driver was determined to be an illegal alien from Colombia and he was taken into custody on the spot.
Upon arrival at a RaceTrac gas station, we observed officers questioning drivers in the lot and several more arrests were made.
We then made our way back to the port where we learned a detainee had physically resisted officers before he was handcuffed and shackled.
Another target managed to escape by running into a swampy area, forcing officers to dodge alligators while pursuing him on foot.
A BCSO helicopter was deployed to assist in searching for the absconder, and he eventually surrendered after roughly an hour on the loose, bringing the operation to a conclusion.
“Nobody else can do it better than Florida. With the Governor’s support and all the leadership we have here in the state of Florida, it’s unparalleled around the country,” Vliet told Border Hawk.
In total, 18 illegal aliens were apprehended — 17 males and a lone female — and their vehicles were impounded.
They were all citizens of countries in the Western Hemisphere: Mexico, Guatemala, Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela.
During processing, officers discovered one of the men had a disturbing criminal background and immigration history.
“Reutilio Olvera-Contreras, a 46-year-old criminal illegal alien of Mexico, used false identification to hide under an alias, was also arrested during the Port Canaveral immigration operation while attempting to illegally drive passengers throughout Central Florida,” an ICE spokesperson told Border Hawk.
“He has a criminal history that includes convictions for cocaine possession in January 2002, and felony driving with a suspended license in March 2016. He has habitual violations for driving without a license. He has a final order of removal issued by an immigration judge from June 29, 2016, and was granted a voluntary departure via ICE Air.”
Additionally, three other detainees accepted voluntary deportations via ICE Air.
Other agencies participating in Operation Lyft Off include U.S. Border Patrol, Homeland Security Investigations Tampa, FBI Tampa, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and Customs and Border Protection.
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