Bahamas police: Captain in Haitian migrant boat tragedy previously convicted in U.S., Cuba

The captain of a twin-engine 30-foot speedboat that capsized in the waters off New Providence in the Bahamas on Sunday while ferrying Haitian migrants to Miami had been previously convicted of human smuggling in the U.S. and drug trafficking in Cuba, the head of Bahamian police said Wednesday.

Speaking at a press conference in Nassau, Bahamian Police Commissioner Clayton Fernander said that authorities had finished a background check on the man, whom he did not name. The man, he said, spent two years in prison in the United States and eight years imprisoned in Cuba.

Sources have told the Miami Herald that the boat captain who is in custody is a Bahamian national named Donald Nehemiah Watson, 39. In 2019, he was charged with one count of smuggling after officials with U.S. Border Patrol and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Marine Unit encountered his vessel east of West Palm Beach. After a pursuit at top speed, the boat ran out of fuel and Watson, who was captain, was arrested along with Travis Jamaal Moss, an undocumented Bahamian national who had been previously expelled from the U.S.

According to court records, Watson was still on probation after being convicted of human smuggling in 2019 in federal court in West Palm Beach.

Fernander said three people who were arrested for having arranged the trip, in which at least 17 people died, are looking at a host of charges including homicide, manslaughter and operating an unregistered vessel.

“We are well on the way with this investigation,” he said, adding that authorities hope to announce official charges by Friday.

Police said among those arrested is a man they suspect was the owner of the vessel. During the arrest of the man at his residence and during a search, police also “uncovered large sums of cash, which we believe were proceeds with respect to this matter,” Fernander said.

The arrests occurred after the Royal Bahamas Defense Force was alerted that a boat carrying “suspected irregular Haitian migrants” had overturned 7 miles off of New Providence, where the capital of Nassau is located. While 25 people survived the incident, including the boat captain and another suspect who was arrested Sunday, the bodies of 17 others, including 15 women, a man and a young girl around 5 years old, were recovered from the ocean.

Fernander said the police have not yet identified any of the victims, and reissued an appeal to the Haitian community to come forward with information that can help in the investigation. The migrants left from West Bay Street in Nassau, which Fernander said has become “a hot spot” for such migrant operations.

Fernander said the majority of the victims had been staying in New Providence for about a month. “Some of them came here from various islands and we have identified at least three of them who came by plane about two weeks ago,” he said.

“We are appealing, especially to the Haitian community ... to please assist us in trying to identify any family members,” he said. “They don’t have to be afraid of any arrest or [that] they will be sent back. We suspect they may be afraid of coming forward.”

On Monday, U.S. Homeland Security Investigation agents arrived in the Bahamas to assist. Fernander confirmed the presence of U.S. partners, and said “we are going deep into this investigation because we believe that the destination was for the U.S.”

Miami Herald Staff Writer Jay Weaver contributed to this report.