http://tampatrib.com/floridametronews/MGBW90D7S8E.html

Smugglers Of Cubans Launch, Land On Collier County Coast

The Associated Press
Published: May 16, 2005

NAPLES - Smugglers bringing Cuban migrants into the country have begun launching their runs to the island nation from Collier County in southwest Florida, taking advantage of hundreds of miles of lightly guarded coastline, federal and local law enforcement officials said.
The smugglers are avoiding the tighter security around the Florida Keys put in place after the Sept. 11 attacks, so they also are dropping their human cargo in the remote Dry Tortugas and Marquesas islands.

Cubans who reach the islands, or any U.S. land, usually are allowed to stay, while those stopped at sea are generally returned to their native land by immigration officials.

``They are looking for the weakest area or the best place where they can be successful,'' said Victor Colon, assistant chief patrol agent for U.S. Border Patrol's Miami sector.

More than 400 migrants - nearly half those who have made it to the Keys since October - have landed in the Marquesas and Tortugas, Colon said. Six vessels carrying 168 migrants were stopped while trying to reach the Tortugas during that time, the Coast Guard said.

``Criminals look to take advantage of vulnerabilities,'' said Lt. Tony Russell, spokesman for the Coast Guard in Miami. ``We are working hard to minimize those. The Florida Straits covers from Cay Sal in the east to the Marquesas in the west. That's 25,000 square miles of ocean.''

A task force of federal, state and local agencies is trying to thwart the southwest Florida launches on boat ramps from Everglades City to Fort Myers in Lee County. The smugglers usually are based in Miami and use trailers to bring their boats up the coast, officials said.