Offshoreonly.com - Rough Day for Immigrant Smuggling

Boat is in great shape, triple Yamaha power and looks like it just came off someone's lift. It is about 50-60ft up the beach off shoreline with a couple anchors holding it ashore for safety. Seas are 8-10 right now so the boat won't be going anywhere for a few days.

Police: Boaters sneak ashore in Juno Beach during Fay

By BILL DIAPOLO

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

JUNO BEACH — Police are searching for eight to 10 people who came ashore this morning and ditched their Bahamas-registered boat just north of Juno Beach Pier.

A 35-foot blue and white Mirage was reported abandoned about 200 yards north of the pier at 6 a .m., in the middle of the onslaught from Tropical Storm Fay.

The boat had three engines and seats all along the sides, Juno Beach police officer Tiffany Russell said.

"The boat was in great shape," she said.

The boat is registered in the Grand Bahamas, police said. The Coast Guard has disabled it so it cannot run.

About an hour later, Juno police were called by the manager of a Shell station on U.S. 1 just south of Marcinski Road.

Police said the manager initially told them that eight to 10 people, mostly men, had gotten into a gray van and a taxi. Both vehicles headed south on U.S. 1, police said.

"The likelihood is that they left the boat and hid in the woods until police left. Then they made a call and met their people at the gas station," Russell said.

But later, the gas station attendant said he saw only four men.

Two of the men asked for coffee and tried to pay with a $100 bill. A few minutes later, two more men asked for a sandwich and also tried to pay with a $100 bill.

"They were in their 20s and 40s," said Parmanand Patel, the station manager. "They were well-dressed. They did not speak with accent."

The men failed to persuade a gas station customer to give them a ride, then used a pay phone to make a phone call. A vehicle picked up the four men up before the cab arrived.