Boat stopped off Key Biscayne with Chinese, Haitian and Bangladeshi migrants: Feds
The interception is part of a recent trend in which human smugglers are choosing Coral Gables, Key Biscayne and Brickell as their drop-off points. Many of the migrants are coming from China and making their way to The Bahamas, where smugglers take them in boats that moor in the mangroves along South Florida's waterways before waiting vans pick them up.
This time, the people on board were from China, Haiti and Bangladesh, according to the Homeland Security Investigations complaint and a statement from the U.S. Coast Guard.
READ MORE: How Coral Gables became a key end point for smuggled Chinese migrants
And, the man authorities said drove the boat, Earlin Karlan Cargill, said he was provided a phone by smuggling organizers in Bimini with an app installed on it that already had coordinates to Key Biscayne plotted in, according to the complaint.
Heading to Bear Cut in Key Biscayne
The events unfolded around 8:30 p.m. Feb. 11 when Customs Air and Marine Operations agents were monitoring a Palm Beach Sheriff's Office radar station and observed a boat heading from the Bahamas to Bear Cut in Key Biscayne, the complaint states.
A Customs patrol boat caught up with the vessel about four nautical miles east of Key Biscayne. The craft appeared to be homemade, with a blue hull, a single engine and no registration numbers displayed, according to the complaint. Agents also noted that the boat was running in the dark of night with no navigational lights.
Agents turned on the patrol boat's blue flashing lights and sirens to signal to Cargill, 40, to stop his vessel, the complaint states. When he didn't, the agents fired a single warning shot in front of the bow, which prompted Cargill to halt the boat, according to the report.
Along with Cargill — who is a Bahamian citizen — there were 12 people on board the boat, which was riding low in the water from the weight, the complaint states. The report did not specify how many people were from each country.
A Miami-Dade Fire Rescue boat crew took one woman to Mercy Hospital in Coconut Grove to be checked out for a medical condition not specified in the report. The rest of the people, including Cargill, were taken to the Coast Guard cutter Vigorous.
The Customs crew tried towing the smuggling boat to land, but waves began crashing over the stern, and it capsized, the complaint states.
Homeland Security Investigations took Cargill to shore for questioning two days later, according to the complaint.
Smuggler approached in The Bahamas: Complaint
After being read his rights, he told agents he was approached in the Bahamas by the smuggling venture's organizer to take the people to Key Biscayne. He told agents he was paid $700, according to the complaint.
Cargill told agents that the people were already on the boat when Cargill arrived to the dock in Bimini. He was given the clothes he was wearing, along with a cell phone with a GPS app pre-plotted for Key Biscayne, Cargill told the agents.
According to Federal Bureau of Prisons records, Cargill is being held at Federal Detention Center Miami. Information about his legal representation was not immediately available.
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