Customs agents seize Jamaican national from Naples boat Saturday

Dave Osborn/Staff

Boat searched at Bayview Park

Dave Osborn/Staff

Boat searched at Bayview Park

Following a Coast Guard investigation in Naples on Saturday, one person was taken into custody with U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

After a routine check on a boat by the Coast Guard, customs agents took custody of a Jamaican national, who told border patrol agents he was smuggled into the country years ago through Fort Lauderdale, according to a customs spokesman. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Steve McDonald said the charge of entering the country without inspection is administrative, not criminal, so the man’s name and age are not publicly available.

The Coast Guard detained the man aboard a boat at Bayview Park in East Naples on Saturday afternoon, meanwhile searching the boat with the help of the Collier County Sheriff’s Office. A sheriff’s office canine unit was brought in to help with the search.

The 35-foot boat was taken into Hamilton Harbor, to the Fort Myers Beach Coast Guard Station, said Tara Molle, petty officer third class with the Coast Guard. Molle said three people were on board the boat, and the coast guard did “terminate a voyage” for the boat because it lacked the proper safety equipment.

The other two people on the boat, a father and son, were determined to be U.S. citizens and were not detained, McDonald said.

On Saturday, Collier County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Michelle Batten said the boat had been stopped for a safety check, and said that during the holiday weekend, law enforcement routinely checks boats to ensure they have the proper equipment.