Thread: Boat runs aground off Miami Beach; 27 rescued

Boat runs aground off Miami Beach; 27 rescued

MIAMI BEACH, Florida (AP) — One person is dead and 27 others had to be rescued after a boat ran aground in waters off Miami Beach, Florida.
The Coast Guard says the boat ran into trouble early Friday morning.

It wasn't immediately clear where the boat was coming from, but authorities say they believe at least some of the passengers are immigrants. Search and rescue crews are combing the waters to make sure no one was missed.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/200 ... uard_N.htm

It wasn't immediately clear where the boat was coming from, but authorities say they believe at least some of the passengers are immigrants.

More "LEGAL" (because their feet touched U.S. soil) immigrants from Cuba no doubt.

Stop the wet foot/dry foot policy! We dont need anymore.

October 31, 2008

Coast Guard suspends search for missing migrants near Miami Beach
BY JENNIFER MOONEY PIEDRA, JOSE PAGLIERY AND ANDRES VIGLUCCI

As dozens of apparent illegal immigrants from the Dominican Republic and Brazil scrambled off a grounded freighter early Friday morning in the waters between Fisher Island and Virginia Key, leaving three dead, U.S. authorities spent the day and night trying to piece together the mystery of the rustic vessel and its foreign passengers.

Officials say 21 people, most from the Dominican Republic but a small number of Brazilians, were being held after they were rescued from the water or detained on board the 40-foot freighter, which appears to have run aground in the shallow channel between the two islands.

Late Friday, the Coast Guard announced it was suspending its search for missing migrants that was being conducted both in the water and on land on Virginia Key and adjacent Key Biscayne.

''We have thoroughly searched the area and feel confident that if anyone was still in the water we would have located them,'' said Captain James Fitton, the Coast Guard Sector Miami commander.

40 PASSENGERS

People from the boat told investigators the freighter carried about 40 passengers. That would leave as many as 16 people unaccounted for, although it's unclear whether the passengers' figure was correct, Fitton said.

''We've done a pretty extensive search. We're pretty confident we've done a thorough job,'' Fitton said at an afternoon news conference, but added: ``Right now we don't have a firm head count.''

Fitton said the Coast Guard canvassed the area with helicopters and boats until sunset.

By evening, authorities were still sorting out what happened. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were investigating whether the migrants were brought by smugglers, although no suspects had been identified, law enforcement sources said.

Coast Guard and local police were alerted to the freighter at about 8 a.m., when someone at Jimbo's, a fish shack and shrimper's camp on Virginia Key, called fire rescue.

''The boat ran aground,'' said Petty Officer 2nd Class James Harless, a Coast Guard spokesman. ``It came into too-shallow water, so it hit the bottom.''

It's unclear if passengers began jumping into the water because the freighter was stranded and how long it was sitting there before it was spotted. When rescuers reached the ship, the anchor was down, Fitton said.

As U.S. Coast Guard, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue and Miami Fire Rescue ships closed in, some passengers began swimming to shore, officials said.

Rescuers pulled three bodies from the water after they presumably drowned. Their names, ages and nationalities were not available.

Seven people were detained on board the ship. Most of the rest were picked up in the water, said Miami-Dade fire spokesman Lt. Arnold Piedrahita, although at least one man appears to have made it to shore, where fire-rescue personnel were waiting.

Four people, none seriously injured, were taken to Mt. Sinai and Mercy hospitals.

UNTYPICAL CASE

The case differs from the typical smuggling operation more common in recent years in South Florida, in which people are brought in from Cuba using speedboats. Federal authorities have been cracking down on such smugglers, indicting dozens of people in the past two years, most for operations involving Cuban migrants.

On Friday, authorities unveiled the latest case: Two men, Osmin Nodarse, 31, and John Sosa, 26, were indicted on charges of allegedly attempting to smuggle in 25 Haitians on two speedboats on Oct. 10.

'RUSTIC' FREIGHTER

In contrast, the ship in Friday's incident was described as a ''rustic'' freighter of the type used to transport cargo between Caribbean islands or around the Bahamas. Authorities weren't saying where they believe the trip to have originated.

''It's a typical island-type freighter,'' Fitton said. ``Very old, very rusty, but seaworthy.''

Elee Erice, a Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman, said the passengers had been at sea for ''probably several days.'' Erice said four were Brazilian. She could not provide a breakdown by age or sex.

www.miamiherald.com

Officials say 21 people, most from the Dominican Republic but a small number of Brazilians,

Guess I was wrong in assuming they were from Cuba. These folks are deportable illegal aliens.

Nov 2, 2008

Agencies end search at sea for missing migrants

A group of 27 Dominicans and Brazilians are in custody as officials conduct a human-smuggling criminal investigation.
BY KIRSTIN MAGUIRE

With as many as 12 illegal immigrants still missing, the U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search for the migrants whose rusting freighter ran aground near Fisher Island in Miami-Dade on Friday.

Officials held 27 people in custody Saturday, said Jennifer Johnson, a petty officer first class. Three Dominican men died Friday after they jumped from a 30-foot cargo ship and drowned.

But survivors say 42 people were on board, leaving 12 people unaccounted for when the search at sea ended, Johnson said.

Coast Guard officials ''were confident that if people were in the search area, we would have found them,'' Johnson said.

Of those in custody, five are Brazilian and the rest are Dominican, said Nicole Navas, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The agency is leading an investigation to find out whether smugglers brought the migrants into U.S. waters, Navas said.

''[Immigration and Customs Enforcement] is continuing a criminal investigation to determine if anyone was involved in the smuggling endeavor,'' she said.

Coast Guard and local police were alerted to the freighter about 8 a.m. Friday, when someone at Jimbo's, a fish shack and shrimper's camp on Virginia Key, called Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.

It is unclear whether some passengers tried to swim to shore because the freighter was stranded. When rescuers reached the ship, the anchor was down in shallow water, Coast Guard Capt. James Fitton said.

Coast Guard Sector Miami used two helicopters, three small boats and its cutter Dolphin to search for people still in the water. Shortly after sundown, they abandoned their search.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, Miami Police Department, ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents assisted in the search, but they, too, have concluded any search efforts at sea.

''Our involvement ended as soon as we brought in the three fatalities and handed them over to police and officials,'' Fire Rescue spokesman Lt. Arnold Piedrahita said.

As part of its criminal investigation, ICE, along with U.S. Customs, will search for the missing immigrants on land, Navas said.


www.miamiherald.com

Captain charged with smuggling illegal immigrants after boat ran aground near Miami, killed 6
Associated Press

Last update: November 10, 2008 - 5:33 PM

MIAMI - A boat captain from the Dominican Republic has been charged with smuggling illegal immigrants after his vessel ran aground last month near Miami, killing six people.

The passengers from Brazil and the Dominican Republic said they paid 62-year-old Crecencio Hernandez between $4,000 and $15,000 to be smuggled into the United States. Hernandez was charged Monday with alien smuggling and could face 10 years in prison.

Coast Guard officials said the boat ran ashore on Oct. 31 near Miami. Several passengers made it to shore, but six were found dead. Authorities apprehended Hernandez and others.

Court records on Monday did not list an attorney for Hernandez.

http://www.startribune.com/nation/34227729.html

I.C.E. News Release

November 10, 2008

Dominican boat captain charged with alien smuggling
Six migrants found dead

MIAMI - A 62-year-old boat captain has been indicted on charges of smuggling aliens into the United States following a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) led investigation. The incident resulted in six deaths.

Crecencio Hernandez, 62, of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, was arrested on Friday, November 7, on charges of smuggling aliens into the United States for financial gain. If convicted, Hernandez faces a minimum of three years in prison and up to ten years in prison. Hernandez made his initial appearance in federal court earlier today.

According to the criminal complaint filed in court, on October 31, 2008, the Coast Guard received reports that an old wooden vessel, carrying passengers, had run aground on a sandbar off of Virginia Key, near Key Biscayne. Coast Guard officers boarded the vessel, and found 12 Dominican nationals on board. Other passengers, all Brazilian and Dominican nationals, had jumped off the boat in an effort to swim ashore. Some of them made it to shore, but were later apprehended including defendant Hernandez by ICE agents and officers from the U.S. Coast Guard and Border Patrol. Six migrants did not make it, and were found dead.

"ICE strongly discourages people from taking to the seas and attempting to illegally enter the United States," said Anthony V. Mangione, special agent in charge of ICE's Office of Investigations in Miami. "Tragically, many have lost their lives while attempting this illegal and treacherous trip. ICE will continue to aggressively pursue those at every level in the smuggling chain who prey on human beings for their own financial gain."

Of those that were found on the boat and on shore, many identified defendant Hernandez as the captain of the wooden boat. They said that they had paid between $4,000.00 and $15,000.00 to be smuggled into the United States illegally. Hernandez said that he had been given a reduction on the smuggling price he paid in exchange for guiding and navigating the vessel from the Dominican Republic to the United States.

U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta for the Southern District of Florida stated, "The tragedy of human smuggling continues to unfold in South Florida. In this case, six more lives were lost in yet another failed smuggling venture. We will continue to aggressively prosecute these cases in the hopes of deterring would-be smugglers from engaging in future ventures that could result in additional loss of lives."

"Human smuggling is a criminal enterprise that often results in tragic consequences for those who attempt it, said Harold Woodward, director of field operations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Miami. "Through the collaborative efforts of law enforcement agencies in South Florida, we are preventing these illegal and dangerous operations."

"The Coast Guard and our federal, state and local law enforcement partners remain committed to protecting life at sea and our nation's maritime borders," said Rear Admiral Steve Branham, Seventh Coast Guard District Commander. "All too often, illegal migrant smuggling ventures unnecessarily result in death or serious injury to the migrants. There are safe and legal means to immigrate to the United States."

U.S. Attorney Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Coast Guard and the City of Miami Police Department.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert Luck.

-- ICE --

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

Last Modified: Monday, November 10, 2008
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0811/081110miami.htm