Many Bahamian boat owners are actively engaged in smuggling Haitians and other nationals from The Bahamas to South Florida, according to a “self-confessed” Bahamian smuggler.
Speaking “openly” to the Palm Beach Post on Sunday, the man reportedly admitted that he charges between $1,500 and $3,000 per person for passage to South Florida.
The “self-confessed” smuggler, who referred to himself, as “D.Z.,” described himself as an “entrepreneur,” specializing in the smuggling of human cargo. According to D.Z., shortly before he transports migrants to South Florida, he allows them to hide out in his two-bedroom home, located on the southern end of New Providence.
“When it’s time to move people, you don’t want to have people all over the place, picking up people,” he explained. “So whenever you say it’s time to move, with the weather permitting, everyone is there and you could take them right to the vessel and pull out,” he told the Palm Beach Post. On such occasions, he said, he moves his wife and children into a hotel, to protect them from a possible raid by Bahamian immigration officials.
D.Z. said that his concern is not only about getting quick money, but also getting migrants, mainly Haitians out of The Bahamas, to a place the a “boat trip away.” Persons in the migrant- smuggling business were personally acquainted with each other, he said, and would assist each other if their boats were “down.”
The “migrant smuggler” also reportedly told the Palm Beach Post that his fee of $1,500 to $3,000 depended on the number of passengers he had to transport, when he would offer a “group discount.”
During the day, he said, he never transported more than 10 passengers at a time.
D.Z. explained in the article that he travels during the day, as he would rather risk being spotted than not being able to see what is around him in the water. He failed to discuss the logistics of his trip, but stated however, that he uses a global positioning system for navigation and distributes life jackets to his passengers.
“D.Z. is more concerned about storms than the threat of Bahamian law enforcement. Because so many Haitians try to get into The Bahamas, the Royal Bahamian Defence Force has focused attention on intercepting vessels entering the islands, not leaving them,” the Post was reportedly told.
Commenting on the report, Minister of Labour and Immigration, Vincent Peet, told the Guardian Monday, that his ministry is in active pursuit of such individuals as “D.Z.”
Describing the practice as extremely dangerous, he told the Guardian,
“Human cargo smuggling like what he described has been going on for years. It has just not started. When I first became minister, I made some very strong statements to ask Bahamians to stop being involved in it, because it is deadly and it could cause them their lives.”
Mr Peet said the government is very serious when it comes to human cargo smuggling and is totally against any form of illegal activity, no matter what the “rationale” may be.
As “D.Z.” did not reveal his name in the Palm Beach Post article, Minister Peet said, it is the job of the Ministry of Labour to identify all such individuals, and “deal with them.”
“This would then cut off one of the sources of smuggling. It certainly would be in the best interest of the Department of Immigration to find out who these individuals are,” he said. “We are out there in the field, we have a hotline and people are calling with tips. Once we get these tips and leads, we go after them and we have in fact been able to intercept or to break up a number of deals like this.”
By Tamara McKenzie, The Nassau Guardian
