A Cuban and two Ecuadorians were arrested off North Key Largo, Florida, accused of trafficking 20 migrants aboard a boat that had departed from Bimini, Bahamas.
According to the official statement from the Air and Marine Operations (AMO) of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), on September 15, 23 individuals were detained, including an alleged smuggler of Cuban nationality, along with 22 other migrants: eight Ecuadorians, 13 Chinese nationals, and one Dominican. They were all aboard a boat.
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Subsequently, Nuevo Herald identified the Cuban boat operator as Yunio Pelegrin Luis, 30 years old, without authorization to remain in the United States.
Two Ecuadorians were also arrested: William Ortiz Romero, 32 years old, and Flavio Lema Mayancela, 33, both with prior deportation orders from the country.
The three face federal charges for encouraging and inducing foreign individuals to illegally enter the United States, and could face up to five years in prison. They were scheduled to appear before a judge on Tuesday afternoon in Key West.
Details of the operation
The operation began when the radar of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Department detected a suspicious vessel heading east from the Bahamian shores and transmitted the alert to the Coast Guard and the Air and Marine Operations (AMO) of Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
A surveillance plane from the Air and Maritime Branch in Miami tracked the target while patrolling as part of Operation Vigilant Sentry, a federal strategy to detect irregular maritime migration in the Florida Straits.
Maritime interdiction agents from the Miami and Key Largo units coordinated with the Coast Guard to intercept the vessel around 1:30 a.m., approximately one mile off the coast of the Ocean Reef Club, a private community in North Key Largo.
The vessel was a 27-foot cabin cruiser with two outboard motors. The interception was carried out without incident.
The case highlights the reactivation of the maritime route from the Bahamas to Florida as an alternative to the closure of the land border with Mexico. Migrants first arrive in Panama, travel to the Bahamas, and from the island of Bimini, they board speedboats to Florida, paying between $16,000 and $20,000 per person.
CBP summarized the message of the operation in its statement: “Attempting to illegally enter the United States by sea is extremely dangerous, puts lives at risk, and will not go unnoticed.”
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