Texas man rented a boat in Key West — then he took it to Cuba, deputies say
Floyd Dean Devasier, 63, was arrested by federal agents on a Monroe County warrant in Miami, where he was flown after being detained by Cuban authorities, according to the sheriff's office.
Devasier, from Katy, Texas, rented the 26.5-foot Panga boat from Beach Weekend Key West Marina on Tuesday for two days, said Monroe County Sheriff's Office spokesman Adam Linhardt. The rental agreement stipulated the vessel was not to be operated at night and was to be returned by the end of the business day Wednesday, Linhardt added.
A marina employee told deputies that Devasier bought and filled an extra 20-gallon fuel tank before leaving.
Per the sheriff's office, Devasier told marina staff he was going to dock the boat overnight at the 6800 block of Front Street on Stock Island. But witnesses who own businesses and boats on Front Street told deputies they never saw the boat, and deputies watched security camera footage from the area, which never showed the vessel, Linhardt said.
Then marina staff used GPS tracking that showed the boat heading south in the Atlantic Ocean, but Linhardt noted the tracking eventually ceased.
A man fishing on his boat in the ocean saw the vessel and took photographs of it, the sheriff's office said.
On Wednesday, the Cuban Border Guard notified U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations that they had the boat, Devasier and a 38-year-old woman in custody.
'I want to thank the U.S. Coast Guard, HSI, the Cuban Border Guard and the good Samaritan on the water for their help and cooperation in bringing this case to a successful conclusion,' Sheriff Rick Ramsay said in a statement.
Devasier was not yet in Monroe County jail as of Thursday night. Linhardt said he faces a charge of hiring or leasing with intent to defraud.
According to the sheriff's office, Devasier has several prior drug-related convictions, including a case in 2019 in which he also kept a rental boat past its return date and took it to Cuba.
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