Authorities have charged three people in connection with a suspected migrant smuggling operation that was disrupted by police last week in Coral Gables. According to a criminal complaint, Keiner Cicilia Rodriguez, Lucas Sedeno Rodriguez and Jose Luis Villares face charges of transporting undocumented migrants within the United States in violation of federal immigration laws. The incident began Friday morning when a resident reportedly witnessed a man shoving a woman into the back seat of a tan Toyota Corolla near Snapper Creek Lakes. The witness recorded the incident on a cellphone and alerted a nearby law enforcement officer. Shortly afterward, police stopped the Toyota Corolla and an accompanying U-Haul van in the area. Authorities said they discovered 23 individuals crammed inside the U-Haul van, which had its rear windows covered with cardboard. Another five individuals, including the driver, were found in the Toyota Corolla. The occupants, identified as migrants from China, Ecuador and Brazil, were determined to have recently arrived in the U.S. by boat from the Bahamas. Investigators say the drivers of the vehicles, Sedeno Rodriguez and Villares, along with passenger Cicilia Rodriguez, were recruited to transport the migrants for payment. Interviews with the migrants and the suspects revealed that the group had been instructed to drop off the migrants near a Miami-Dade hardware store. The criminal complaint also alleges that Sedeno Rodriguez was promised $5,000, while Villares was to be paid $500 for their roles.