Wednesday, 04.14.10
2 arrested on human smuggling charges in Miami-Dade
BY ADAM H. BEASLEY
abeasley@miamiherald.com


Federal agents have arrested the two Cuban nationals believed to be behind a failed smuggling operation that ended with a massive search for migrants Monday evening near Haulover Beach.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have not released the names of the men said to be responsible, but both are expected to appear in federal court Wednesday and will face smuggling charges.

The arrests came as authorities continued to sort through the 15 people detained and looked for others who may have slipped away.

The men and women from Jamaica, Haiti and Sri Lanka who landed a nautical mile north of Haulover Inlet were in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody Tuesday afternoon and face deportation. One of those rounded up allegedly struck a Miami-Dade cop and has been charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, according Nicole Navas, an ICE spokeswoman.

Also on the boat: roughly $11,000 in American and Bahamian currency, Navas said.

While the identities of those caught have not been released, ICE did make public their nations of origin: From Haiti, two women, one man and one 16-year-old girl; from Jamaica, five men and two women; and from Sri Lanka, four men.

All but one have been charged administratively for being in violation of U.S. immigration law, and one or more might still be charged with illegally reentering the country following deportation.

The charges came a day after federal agents turned out in force, using helicopters to search for the migrants who fled after the boat landed near 156th Street and Collins Avenue.

Horacio Borghini, a security guard at the nearby Tropicana Condominium, said about 7 p.m. he saw two young, barefoot men ``running away, desperately crossing Collins Avenue. A lot of cars stopped suddenly, and the men went across the street, getting lost in the plants.''

``After that, I saw about 12 to 15 people also running away, jumping over the little wall on our property heading to Collins Avenue. Then I saw a police officer, with `special agent' on his brown uniform, pointing a gun at two people. He was ordering them to the floor. He said to me to call 911.''

Within minutes, helicopters filled the air and police and federal agents flooded the area, Borghini said. The yacht that had carried the migrants was visible from shore.

``It was a big, exciting moment, like a Hollywood moment,'' he said.

``With the helicopters flying so low, it looked like Vietnam. Everybody came out to see what was going on. It was frankly very sad, to see poor people, immigrants looking for freedom, probably.''
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