By FARRAH JOHNSON

fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A NUMBER of Chinese nationals and one Bahamian were detained by American officials after attempting to illegally enter the United States by boat last year.

A dozen Chinese and one Bahamian were smuggled from The Bahamas to South Florida by luxury yacht operators who charged each passenger thousands of dollars for the short journey, the Miami Herald reported yesterday.

According to the report, the US Coast Guard intercepted two vessels attempting to sail to South Florida last year.

This led to the arrest of three men who were accused of transporting 26 Chinese passengers and one Bahamian, according to US court records.

The cases were unrelated.

In the first incident, Rocco Oppedisano, a 51-year-old Italian, was stopped by the US Coast Guard on December 2 while he was commandeering a 63-foot Sunseeker yacht named INXS FINALLY.

14 Chinese passengers and one Bahamian were found on the vessel.

“Rocco Oppedisano…is scheduled for arraignment in Miami federal court Friday on charges of conspiring to transport aliens into the United States and bringing them here for financial gain,” The Miami Herald reports.

“Assistant US Attorney Brian Sattler said in the indictment that authorities seized the vessel as well as $172,000 in Bahamian dollars and $41,000 in US dollars.”

In the second incident, a US Coast Guard cutter came across a 70-foot Hatteras yacht about 20-miles east of South Florida on July 23, 2019.

“When officers radioed the vessel to ask how many people were on board, the yacht’s response: two crew and eight Japanese passengers with passports, who did not need additional visas to enter the United States.”

According to The Miami Herald, a US Homeland Security Investigations criminal affidavit proved that their statement was a lie.

“About 10 miles east of Port Everglades, Coast Guard officers boarded the yacht and asked crew member Robert L McNeil Jr to bring all the passengers on deck. The officers counted 12 passengers with passports from the People’s Republic of China but without required visas to enter the United States, according to the HSI affidavit.”

“One of the Coast Guard officers asked McNeil why there were 12 Chinese nationals on board instead of the eight Japanese, as initially represented in the radio communications.

“McNeil said it must have been a misunderstanding and asked the Coast Guard officer, ‘Are we in trouble?’ McNeil further said that he ‘worked with the underground railroad and anti-human trafficking and would never do anything wrong,’ the affidavit said.”

According to the report, the US Coast Guard concluded that none of the Chinese nationals had documents that would allow them to enter the United States legally.

This led to the all of the yacht’s passengers being transferred to the Coast Guard cutter.

“During questioning, Bradford said he left South Florida on the Hatteras yacht bearing the name CAREFREE on July 22 and arrived in Nassau, Bahamas, that day. He admitted that the purpose of the trip was to pick up a ‘tour group of aliens’ in the Bahamas, transport them to South Florida and return to the Bahamas on July 26.”

According to the report, in the affidavit, the yacht’s charter captain said he did not check to see if all passengers on board had the proper documentation to enter the United States.

“A search of the yacht uncovered 10 cellphones in the bridge area; none of the Chinese nationals had mobile phones on them. Based on my knowledge and experience in human smuggling cases, smugglers often collect cell phones from migrants until they are paid for delivering the migrants to the US’ wrote HSI special agent David Jansen, who added that none of the passengers carried any luggage.”

The US Coast Guard also uncovered $118,100 hidden behind the wall paneling of the yacht’s master bedroom.

Investigators also seized allegedly more than $2,800 from Mr McNeil.

“Both Bradford and McNeil were indicted on charges of conspiring to transport aliens into the United States and bringing them here for financial gain. To resolve his case, McNeil pleaded guilty earlier this month to one count of alien smuggling to make a profit. He faces up to 10 years in prison. Bradford is awaiting trial in Fort Lauderdale federal court.”