Bobcat
11-24-2013, 08:58 AM
We should be using Drones and Hellfire missile's on these A-Holes !:smash:
Sheriff: Scope of boat thefts changing
Thieves smuggle Cubans, then sell vessel in Mexico
BY ADAM LINHARDT Citizen Staff
alinhardt@keysnews.com
Brad Lange is hoping Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay's suspicion about recent boat thefts is on the money -- literally.
The Islamorada Watersports Company owner's prized $70,000, yellow 28-foot Contender with twin Yahama 250-horsepower outboards vanished the night of Nov. 9 from his storage yard at Mile Marker 84.7.
Lange owns a slew of motorboats as part of his business and says he can't afford to insure all of them, including the Contender, which was a total loss.
His case was the latest stolen boat reported in a series of similar thefts plaguing primarily the Middle and Upper Keys since last year.
Ramsay believes the string of expensive-boat thefts could be linked to organized criminal groups from the mainland that come to the Keys to steal boats for smuggling Cubans. Their targets: mainly deep-V, center-console boats 27 feet or longer with multiple outboard engines.
Though stolen boats are often found stripped, boats used for human smuggling are sometimes dumped with their engines and electronics still attached, Ramsay said.
"I hope Sheriff Ramsay is right, I really do, because this was the prize of my fleet," Lange said Wednesday. "I'd love for somebody to find it intact."
Broward and Miami-Dade counties still lead South Florida in boat thefts by far -- according to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission statistics -- but the convenience and access to boats in the Keys that can carry at least a dozen people and make the run across the Florida Straits may be drawing more thieves to Monroe County, Ramsay said.
These cases differ from the rash of thefts in summer 2011, when boats were being mainly pilfered for parts, particularly for lower units. Those thefts stretched from Key Largo to Key West.
Perhaps the most high-profile case recently was the early morning water chase in September that ended when two men in a stolen boat en route to Cuba rammed federal agents, who then shot out the stolen boat's engines.
The most expensive case in the recent thefts was the Aug. 19 theft of a $300,000, 35-foot Intrepid stolen from a lift behind a Marathon home. That boat had twin 300-horsepower engines, a cuddy cabin, a Garmin chart plotter, radar and an autopilot system. The electronics and cuddy cabin were similar to those on Lange's boat.
Ramsay said boats stolen for smuggling are sometimes discovered -- if they are ever found -- intact and adrift. Such a discovery is typically a sure sign the boat was taken to make the run to Cuba and nothing more.
"They're taken only to get to Cuba and back," the sheriff said. "That's where the big money is. If they can get $10,000 a head and pack 30 people on board, that's $300,000. So they make it back and just dump the boat."
Such boats are sometimes found in the Straits or the Everglades, but Ramsay and officials with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Department of Homeland Security Investigations believe most of them end up in Mexico.
Federal agents interviewed by The Citizen for this story believe it is more likely most of the boats stolen for runs to Cuba are then sold overseas, most likely in Mexico.
"You have different groups of guys," said Zach Mann, Department of Homeland Security Investigations resident agent in charge of the Keys. "Some are loosely organized and some are better organized. We are definitely seeing what Sheriff Ramsay is talking about."
Mann said he could not comment on open investigations, but agreed to talk generally about what federal agents are noticing.
"What we often see is, a guy in Mexico wants a boat, and essentially he places an order. So what happens is the guys looking to fill the order steal a boat matching his order, make a run to Cuba and then take it to Mexico," Mann said. "So it's a two-profit opportunity for the guys taking the boats."
The thieves are often so fast that the job is done before law enforcement knows the boat is missing, particularly if it was taken from an owner's vacant home.
"There are tons of boats taken, literally hundreds, that make their way to some other nation, usually Mexico," Mann said. "The boats can be altered within hours. Some of these guys can grab the boat, head to Cuba and then over to Mexico within the same day."
He didn't have specific numbers on those thefts in the Keys.
"Whether a boat is stolen for parts or for smuggling, we don't know until a boat is recovered, if it is ever recovered," Mann said. "I wish I had a percentage, but we generally have to make a case to know for sure what happened."
Ramsay used the August case of a center-console Everglades boat called the Vodka Tonic as an example: The boat stolen from Marathon was last seen by airborne CBP agents about 250 miles from the Keys, headed toward Mexico.
There have been 13 reported boat thefts fitting Ramsay's description since May 2012. All occurred in the Middle and Upper Keys, and include the July 17, 2012, arrest of three men found adrift in Islamorada, near Alligator Reef, who told the Coast Guard they were bound for Cuba in a boat stolen from Marathon.
Ramsay had tips for Keys boat owners to prevent thefts: The simplest solution is not leaving boat keys in the ignition or anywhere on board, as well as installing a breaker on a boat lift that can be cut when no one is home, so the lift is inoperable.
The thieves generally target unlit, unoccupied homes on canals or lots, Ramsay said. They're watching and doing reconnaissance work before deciding which boat is the easiest target.
The CBP recommends Keys residents immediately report a theft to the Monroe County Sheriff's Office so it is recorded with the National Crime Information Center. That can help find a stolen boat if it ever makes its way back into the system, said CBP spokeswoman Elee Erice.
"All legitimate exports of vessels presented to CBP are queried through the NCIC database, which would alert CBP of the stolen vessel," Erice said.
Ramsay urged residents not to misunderstand the problem.
"We're talking about a lot of money at stake here," he said of the smuggling cases. "These guys are not doing this to help people. It's not about helping people in need. This is about money. It's quick and easier than running drugs. Your chances of getting shot are much less than dealing with the drug trade, and as soon as you hit land back here again, you're done. There's much less liabilities for the guys involved."
Lange didn't question the expertise of those who stole his much-loved Contender.
"They knew exactly what they were doing. It was in a locked yard with a trailered boat hitched to a truck in front of it. They moved that boat and truck to get to it. My gut tells me they took it to strip it, but I'm hoping someone finds it floating in one piece out there. I'm eternally optimistic."
alinhardt@keysnews.com
Sheriff: Scope of boat thefts changing
Thieves smuggle Cubans, then sell vessel in Mexico
BY ADAM LINHARDT Citizen Staff
alinhardt@keysnews.com
Brad Lange is hoping Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay's suspicion about recent boat thefts is on the money -- literally.
The Islamorada Watersports Company owner's prized $70,000, yellow 28-foot Contender with twin Yahama 250-horsepower outboards vanished the night of Nov. 9 from his storage yard at Mile Marker 84.7.
Lange owns a slew of motorboats as part of his business and says he can't afford to insure all of them, including the Contender, which was a total loss.
His case was the latest stolen boat reported in a series of similar thefts plaguing primarily the Middle and Upper Keys since last year.
Ramsay believes the string of expensive-boat thefts could be linked to organized criminal groups from the mainland that come to the Keys to steal boats for smuggling Cubans. Their targets: mainly deep-V, center-console boats 27 feet or longer with multiple outboard engines.
Though stolen boats are often found stripped, boats used for human smuggling are sometimes dumped with their engines and electronics still attached, Ramsay said.
"I hope Sheriff Ramsay is right, I really do, because this was the prize of my fleet," Lange said Wednesday. "I'd love for somebody to find it intact."
Broward and Miami-Dade counties still lead South Florida in boat thefts by far -- according to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission statistics -- but the convenience and access to boats in the Keys that can carry at least a dozen people and make the run across the Florida Straits may be drawing more thieves to Monroe County, Ramsay said.
These cases differ from the rash of thefts in summer 2011, when boats were being mainly pilfered for parts, particularly for lower units. Those thefts stretched from Key Largo to Key West.
Perhaps the most high-profile case recently was the early morning water chase in September that ended when two men in a stolen boat en route to Cuba rammed federal agents, who then shot out the stolen boat's engines.
The most expensive case in the recent thefts was the Aug. 19 theft of a $300,000, 35-foot Intrepid stolen from a lift behind a Marathon home. That boat had twin 300-horsepower engines, a cuddy cabin, a Garmin chart plotter, radar and an autopilot system. The electronics and cuddy cabin were similar to those on Lange's boat.
Ramsay said boats stolen for smuggling are sometimes discovered -- if they are ever found -- intact and adrift. Such a discovery is typically a sure sign the boat was taken to make the run to Cuba and nothing more.
"They're taken only to get to Cuba and back," the sheriff said. "That's where the big money is. If they can get $10,000 a head and pack 30 people on board, that's $300,000. So they make it back and just dump the boat."
Such boats are sometimes found in the Straits or the Everglades, but Ramsay and officials with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Department of Homeland Security Investigations believe most of them end up in Mexico.
Federal agents interviewed by The Citizen for this story believe it is more likely most of the boats stolen for runs to Cuba are then sold overseas, most likely in Mexico.
"You have different groups of guys," said Zach Mann, Department of Homeland Security Investigations resident agent in charge of the Keys. "Some are loosely organized and some are better organized. We are definitely seeing what Sheriff Ramsay is talking about."
Mann said he could not comment on open investigations, but agreed to talk generally about what federal agents are noticing.
"What we often see is, a guy in Mexico wants a boat, and essentially he places an order. So what happens is the guys looking to fill the order steal a boat matching his order, make a run to Cuba and then take it to Mexico," Mann said. "So it's a two-profit opportunity for the guys taking the boats."
The thieves are often so fast that the job is done before law enforcement knows the boat is missing, particularly if it was taken from an owner's vacant home.
"There are tons of boats taken, literally hundreds, that make their way to some other nation, usually Mexico," Mann said. "The boats can be altered within hours. Some of these guys can grab the boat, head to Cuba and then over to Mexico within the same day."
He didn't have specific numbers on those thefts in the Keys.
"Whether a boat is stolen for parts or for smuggling, we don't know until a boat is recovered, if it is ever recovered," Mann said. "I wish I had a percentage, but we generally have to make a case to know for sure what happened."
Ramsay used the August case of a center-console Everglades boat called the Vodka Tonic as an example: The boat stolen from Marathon was last seen by airborne CBP agents about 250 miles from the Keys, headed toward Mexico.
There have been 13 reported boat thefts fitting Ramsay's description since May 2012. All occurred in the Middle and Upper Keys, and include the July 17, 2012, arrest of three men found adrift in Islamorada, near Alligator Reef, who told the Coast Guard they were bound for Cuba in a boat stolen from Marathon.
Ramsay had tips for Keys boat owners to prevent thefts: The simplest solution is not leaving boat keys in the ignition or anywhere on board, as well as installing a breaker on a boat lift that can be cut when no one is home, so the lift is inoperable.
The thieves generally target unlit, unoccupied homes on canals or lots, Ramsay said. They're watching and doing reconnaissance work before deciding which boat is the easiest target.
The CBP recommends Keys residents immediately report a theft to the Monroe County Sheriff's Office so it is recorded with the National Crime Information Center. That can help find a stolen boat if it ever makes its way back into the system, said CBP spokeswoman Elee Erice.
"All legitimate exports of vessels presented to CBP are queried through the NCIC database, which would alert CBP of the stolen vessel," Erice said.
Ramsay urged residents not to misunderstand the problem.
"We're talking about a lot of money at stake here," he said of the smuggling cases. "These guys are not doing this to help people. It's not about helping people in need. This is about money. It's quick and easier than running drugs. Your chances of getting shot are much less than dealing with the drug trade, and as soon as you hit land back here again, you're done. There's much less liabilities for the guys involved."
Lange didn't question the expertise of those who stole his much-loved Contender.
"They knew exactly what they were doing. It was in a locked yard with a trailered boat hitched to a truck in front of it. They moved that boat and truck to get to it. My gut tells me they took it to strip it, but I'm hoping someone finds it floating in one piece out there. I'm eternally optimistic."
alinhardt@keysnews.com