On Monday, the 17 immigrants; eight Haitians, five Jamaicans, and four Peruvians were apprehended after being dropped off by a go-fast boat that later fled back to the Bahamas.
It is alleged that the boat captain, and his two helpers are Bahamians. ﾠIt is claimed that they have been engaged in this activity for some time and could possibly be part of a larger human trafficking ring out of Grand Bahama.
According to US Department of Homeland Security agents, the smuggler’s area of operation (AOR) is maintained out of Freeport or the West End area. ﾠThe agents report that on average they deal with three attempts per month by Bahamian captains trying to smuggle immigrants into the US.
According to Arthur Bullock, the head of the Border Patrol’s West Palm Beach office, the Department of Homeland Security has an idea who the smugglers are.
“We have an idea who this smuggler is, all three operating the boat, the captain and his two helpers are all Bahamian. ﾠThe vessel has a forward cutty cabin with twin 225 Yamaha engines.
“We think this boat has been used several times before to smuggle, and as far as we know only human cargo. ﾠRight now, we have contacted our Department of Homeland Security down there (Bahamas) and we’re attmepting to identify who the smugglers are,” he said.
Mr. Bullock said that according to US law, 8 USC Section 1324, wh9ch covers smuggling, the smugglers could face up to five years for each smuggled alien, in addition to a $250,000 fine for each of the aliens.
Such a sentence in this case would be 85 years in jail with a fine of more than $4,250,000.
“We have some names that were used that we got from the migrants from the interviews, and we are following that up right now,” Mr. Bullock said. ﾠ”Also, we have the names of the hotels that they stayed at in the Bahamas as well. ﾠSo, we have quite a bit of information to work with.”
Painting an even darker picture, Mr. Bullock added that four of the migrants captured on this latest smuggling attempt were convicted felons who had been deported from the US.
“Four of the migrants are convicted felopns who were deported from the US recently and are being brought back. ﾠSo that takes even stiffer penallties for smuggling convicted felons. ﾠWhat kind of work these migrants were going to do when they got here, I don’t know.”
“What kind of jobs they were lokking for, I don’t know. ﾠBut a lot of this is family members saving up money and sending it home to smuggle relatives over to get them through,” he said.
By Paul Turnquest, Tribune Staff Reporter
