Miami couple and their company charged in a conspiracy to smuggle adulterated cheese

MIAMI - Yuri Izurieta, 41, Anneri Izurieta, 46, and Naver Trading Corp., were charged on Friday with conspiracy to smuggle goods into the United States, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

According to the allegations in the indictment, Anneri was the president and director of Naver Trading, Corp., which is a licensed importer engaged in the importation and sale of dairy products. Yuri is the husband of Anneri.

Over several years, the Izurietas and Naver Trading, Corp. repeatedly imported shipments of dairy products into the United States. These dairy products were released from the port into the custody of the Izurietas and Naver Trading, Corp., but the defendants were not authorized to sell and distribute the dairy products pending successful completion of an examination by the FDA.

The indictment alleges that the defendants knew that the FDA was concerned that Naver Trading, Corp.'s dairy products were potentially contaminated with harmful bacteria. The indictment also alleges that, in some instances, the defendants actually knew that the dairy products were in fact contaminated. Nonetheless, the defendants allegedly failed to return the merchandise for destruction as required and, on some occasions, even sold and distributed their dairy products.

If convicted, the defendants face a maximum of five years in prison for the count of conspiracy and a maximum of 20 years in prison for each count of smuggling.