Published Thursday, March 8, 2001, in the
Miami Herald
Four mysteries unite agencies
By Jennifer Babson . jbabson@herald.com
KEY LARGO -- Alarmed by the unexplained deaths of four Cuban migrants who
set off on U.S.-bound smuggling boats over the past two months, federal
investigators have formed a ``rapid response team'' that will focus solely on
illegal smuggling fatalities in South Florida.
``We are worried about the trend that seems to indicate that personal safety
is just not a consideration on these alien-smuggling trips and that there seems
to be a lack of concern for the fact that people are getting seriously injured
and killed,'' said Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia Diaz. ``The smugglers seem
to be increasingly brazen.''
The task force -- dubbed DART, for Deceased Alien Response Team -- includes
representatives from the U.S. Border Patrol, the FBI, the U.S. Coast Guard and
the Monroe County Sheriff's Office.
The bodies of three migrants trying to flee Cuba by boat have been retrieved
since January. All of them were determined by a medical examiner to have died
from injuries related to head trauma. They are:
Juana María Sánchez, 73, who died on board a boat that
arrived just before midnight Feb. 22 in the Florida Keys.
Mileydis Cuéllar, 27, a passenger on the same boat who was
pronounced dead several hours later at Mariners Hospital in Tavernier.
Nelson Zayas, 35, whose bruised body was plucked from the waters off
Marathon Jan. 19.
The Miami relatives of another woman, Cira Rodríguez de Gómez,
received an anonymous phone call from a man who said Rodríguez had an
accident on a smuggling boat, died and was buried on a Caribbean cay, also in
January. Investigators haven't been able to find Rodríguez.
Prosecutors have yet to charge anyone in any of the deaths and haven't
gotten much cooperation from either passengers on the boats or family members
believed to have underwritten their trips.
Under DART, law enforcement agencies will jointly treat smuggling-related
deaths as a single case rather than conducting separate investigations and
subsequently sharing information.
In an effort to elicit more information from potential witnesses, the U.S.
attorney's office is also considering a new strategy: compelling passengers who
traveled with the migrants who died to testify before federal grand juries.
Law enforcement agents are especially worried because the deaths have
occurred as the number of Cuban migrants smuggled onto U.S. shores by speedboats
has sharply increased during what is usually the slowest time of the year for
such voyages.
As organized groups have scrambled to cash in on the demand for illegal
passage to the United States, the trips have become increasingly dangerous,
federal investigators contend. Fares for the trips can top $8,000 per person.
Investigators still aren't sure about the circumstances of the recent
deaths, which could have been accidents or the result of recklessness on the
part of smugglers who regularly overload boats to multiply profits. In cases
resulting in the death of a migrant, though, smugglers could face life in prison
or the death penalty if convicted.
Copyright 2001 Miami Herald | 