People from eight countries aboard migrant boat stopped off Palm Beach, feds say

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection boat pulled over a vessel carrying migrants off Lake Worth Inlet in Palm Beach County last week.

About 10 nautical miles off the inlet, agents found 15 people on the 26-foot cuddy cabin twin-engine vessel from eight countries — Haiti, India, Guyana, Tajikistan, Turkey, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas.

Two of the suspected smugglers, Macartnil Thyron McGregor and Cordero Bethel, are from the Bahamas. The other two, Shane Anthony Clacken and Joel Dataram, are from Jamaica and Guyana respectively, according to the criminal complaint filed against them in federal court Sunday.

Clacken and Dataram were arrested on charges of attempting to re-enter the U.S. after having been previously deported, in addition to human smuggling. They both were previously convicted on felony drug charges before they were deported, according to the complaint.

Five others on the boat were also arrested on charges of attempting to re-enter the U.S. after having been previously deported. They, too, were all previously convicted of felonies — ranging from drug charges to assault, the complaint states.

The Customs agents pulled over the boat shortly after midnight last Monday, May 9, after a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office air crew spotted the vessel.

Homeland Security Investigation agents interviewed the passengers on Saturday. The passengers said they paid “unidentified Bahamians” for a spot on the boat. Some paid $1,500, and others as high as $15,000, according to the complaint. The boat departed from Freeport, Bahamas, on May 8.

The man from Tajikistan, Mukhammadamin Saidov, said his ultimate goal was to end up in New York, where “he previously resided, studied and worked,” the complaint states. He was deported in June 2013 following his conviction on felony assault, the complaint states.

Saidov told agents that he planned to fly to New York soon after he arrived in Florida. He had a passport, and said that document was all he needed to get to New York since it wouldn’t be an international flight.

Saidov also told agents, according to the complaint, that McGregor was the organizer of the trip, and that he had been in contact with him through WhatsApp since he was in Dubai.