CBP Intercepts Key Largo Smuggling Boat Carrying 13 Chinese Nationals

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations and the Coast Guard intercepted a 27-foot cuddy cabin near Angelfish Creek, Florida, and apprehended 23 people, including 13 Chinese nationals, the agencies said.

A CBP multi-role enforcement aircraft on an Operation Vigilant Sentry patrol detected the boat off the Florida coast on Sept. 15. Marine interdiction agents from the Miami and Key Largo units coordinated with the Coast Guard and stopped the vessel without incident near Key Largo.

CBP said those aboard were one suspected smuggler, a Cuban national; 13 Chinese nationals; eight Ecuadorian nationals; and one Dominican national. The people were transferred to the Coast Guard Cutter Pablo Valent for processing. The boat was seized.

“Attempting to enter the United States illegally by sea is extremely dangerous and will not go undetected,” said Andres Blanco, executive director of CBP’s Southeast Region. “This interdiction demonstrates the strength of our maritime partnerships and our commitment to stopping human smuggling organizations before they can put more lives at risk.”

Officials told Fox News it is rare for Chinese nationals to try the maritime Caribbean routes typically used by Haitians, Cubans, and Dominicans. During the Biden administration, Chinese illegal crossings were concentrated on land routes in California and Texas. Those routes have been tightened under the current enforcement surge.

The Coast Guard interdicted a separate vessel carrying 25 Chinese nationals about a mile south of Key Biscayne in June. The Key Largo case is the second announced Chinese maritime attempt in South Florida waters in three months.

CBP confirmed the Sept. 15 stop to Fox News on Monday and released video of the intercept. The official news release went out the same day.

The timing sits three days before President Donald Trump is scheduled to host Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington. The administration has spent the year treating Chinese illegal entry as both an immigration problem and a counterintelligence problem. The passenger list on the Key Largo boat does not, by itself, prove an intelligence operation. It does show Chinese migrants are testing a sea route that used to belong to Caribbean smuggling networks.

Blanco said people who attempt the crossing face “arrest, prosecution, removal, and the very real possibility of losing their lives at sea.” Lt. Corryn Ulrich, commanding officer of Pablo Valent, said the interdiction was a coordinated interagency stop and that the cutter remains “ready to save lives and enforce federal law at sea.”