Ritzy Florida enclave becomes Chinese smuggling hot spot as former military identifies driving force
In a ritzy enclave of South Florida, Chinese migrants are coming ashore via boat, leading to an investigation into human smuggling networks.
Coral Gables is a picturesque city located in Miami-Dade County, Florida, known for its Mediterranean Revival architecture, tree-lined streets and lush landscapes. One Coral Gables neighborhood, Gables Estates, is ranked as the most expensive housing market in the country, according to data by Zillow.
But in recent months, the dazzling city has seen an uptick of Chinese migrant interceptions.
The city's uptick is representative of the Sunshine State's influx of Chinese nationals since 2020, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data. In 2020, Florida Border Protection officers interacted with 406 Chinese migrants and by 2024, that number jumped to 723 – a 78% increase.
Fox News Digital spoke with Eric Brown, a retired Green Beret and the founder and CEO of Imperio Consulting, about the increase of migrants in the South Florida town.
"Coral Gables is adjacent to international waterways, and with Cuba just 90 miles from the coastline of Florida, it just makes sense," Brown said.
In January – just days before President Donald Trump was sworn into office – a group of more than 30 migrants, most of them Chinese citizens, was found inside a U-Haul van.
Coral Gables Police Chief Edward James Hudak Jr. said the department issued a BOLO – a be on the lookout alert – for the van and a Toyota car after a resident reported the suspicious vehicles.
The vehicles were stopped by officers, and the woman who was allegedly abducted was taken from the Toyota. Between the U-Haul and Toyota, police found more than 20 Chinese migrants, one male from Cuba and a female from Ecuador.
"We do believe these individuals were brought here by the water," the chief said. "They were probably dropped off, we're assuming somewhere around the southern end of Coral Gables, and approached on foot to the van where they were loaded into."
Brown said he believes that migrants are entering illegally through the U.S. because the northern border has a "bit more security."
"It's also a lot easier to fly into a South American country and smuggle across than it is through Canada," he said. "And human smugglers are using an established pathway through South America and Central America to bring migrants through safely."
MIGRANT BORDER ENCOUNTERS UNDER TRUMP CONTINUE TO DWARF BIDEN'S RECORD HIGHS
At the end of January, Florida law enforcement intercepted dozens of Chinese nationals in Coral Gables. Two smugglers were arrested, one from Cuba and one from Puerto Rico, Coral Gables police said.
"For the second time in just over a week, a very alert resident saw suspicious activity which was later determined to be illegal entry into our country," Hudak said. "They called the Coral Gables Police and within minutes, our police units arrived in the area and detained 26 Chinese nationals and two men (one Puerto Rican and one Cuban) in two separate vans."
Brown noted that the border initially saw an influx of family groups fleeing to the U.S. from China, but now two-thirds of Chinese migrants coming into the U.S. are single men of military age, traveling alone, and claiming they don't speak any English.
"There needs to be better discussion between the state and national levels about sharing resources, increasing air-based technology at the border," he said. "For instance, the use of surveillance drones and updating technology could be a good place to start."
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Coral Gables Police Department and the Department of Homeland Security for comment.