Documents detail interception of immigrant boat headed to Palm Beach County


Agents stop 13 in smuggling attempt; case similar to September bust

October 23, 2012|By Brett Clarkson, Sun Sentinel

When U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents boarded the boat, they found a Jamaican man who was previously deported, a Romanian who said he paid a guy named Leroy $2,000 for the trip and 11 other would-be illegal immigrants.

That's according to criminal complaints filed in federal court. The documents outline the interception of a boat heading from the Bahamas toward the Palm Beach County shore by border officers on Oct. 8.

The incident is similar to a Sept. 16 bust in which 11 Brazilians aboard a 26-foot Robalo fishing boat were taken into custody. Agents also stopped that boat as it made its way from the Bahamas toward the Florida coast.

At least four people were charged in that incident. None of the 11 Brazilians had any documentation that would've allowed them to enter the U.S., agents said.

In both cases, agents from Customs and Border Protection's Office of Air and Marine spotted the vessels from the air as they crossed the Atlantic Ocean east of the Boynton Beach-Lake Worth area.

Federal authorities refer to these busts as interdictions. The Sept. 16 interdiction happened two nautical miles east of Boynton Beach Inlet.

The Oct. 8 interdiction was farther out, about 12 nautical miles off the shoreline between Lake Worth Inlet and Boynton Beach Inlet.

The criminal complaints were filed by a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations, a branch of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Edward Thompson, assistant special agent in charge of the West Palm Beach office of Homeland Security Investigations, said he could not comment specifically on any ongoing cases.

But in general, Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast have seen a rise in both immigrant and drug smuggling cases in recent years, he said.

"I can tell you that historically in South Florida, we've always faced the threat of smuggling," Thompson said. "In recent history, the Department of Homeland Security partners have seen an increase in alien smuggling and drug smuggling in Palm Beach County and north."

Thompson said there are no hard conclusions about what is leading to this increase, but that stronger enforcement along the Mexican border might be playing a role.

"It would be speculation on our part, but I think we could rationally speculate that an increased presence in our law enforcement on the southwest border has forced alien smugglers and drug smugglers to look for other opportunities," Thompson said.

Court documents say that on Oct. 8, Customs and Border Protection officers boarded the Florida-bound boat to find 13 people aboard including the Romanian captain, Gabriel Florica. There were 12 passengers including three Brazilians, two Jamaicans and seven Haitians.

After the group was transferred to a U.S. Coast Guard cutter vessel and brought to the U.S. Border Patrol station in Riviera Beach, they were interviewed. One was identified through fingerprint records as Wayne Oakley, a Jamaican who has an unlawful imprisonment felony conviction from May 2010. In an interview with Homeland Security Investigation agents, Oakley said he was deported from the U.S. in July 2011, according to court documents.

Florica was identified by agents as the captain. In an interview with investigators, he said he was flown in from England to Nassau, Bahamas on Nov. 4, 2011, intending to be smuggled into the U.S. Once in the Bahamas, Florica told agents he met a man named Leroy, who offered to smuggle him into the U.S. by boat $2,000. Later, Florica agreed to captain the boat, the complaint states.

Oakley is charged with attempting to re-enter the United States after having been previously removed and deported.

Florica is charged with alien smuggling for the purpose of commercial advantage and private financial gain.

bsclarkson@tribune.com, 561-243-6609, Twitter @BrettClarkson_

Documents detail interception of immigrant boat headed toward Palm Beach County - Sun Sentinel