He stole a Florida Keys commercial fishing boat to return to Cuba, police say

The story of the largest increase in maritime migration from Cuba to South Florida in nearly a decade took a twist this week. Instead of a boat heading to the Florida Keys, federal authorities intercepted a large fishing vessel sailing away from the island chain en route to Cuba.

The driver of the 40-foot, $60,000 commercial fishing boat was a recent arrival to the United States who, until a few days ago, had a job as a mate aboard the vessel, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.

Cristian Torres Perez, 30, was picked up by the U.S. Coast Guard about 50 miles south of Key West Monday after activating the emergency beacon on the boat, said Adam Linhardt, sheriff’s office spokesman.

A Coast Guard plane’s crew spotted Perez waving his arms from the inoperable vessel. The crew of a passing tanker ship rescued him, before taking Perez to a Coast Guard patrol boat crew, which took him back to the Keys.

He was taken to Monroe County jail, where he remained Tuesday afternoon on larceny and burglary charges. His bond information was not immediately available.

The boat’s owner reported the vessel stolen from its slip in the Middle Keys city of Marathon early Monday morning. He told deputies Perez recently quit and had been talking about returning to Cuba “as he disliked living in the U.S.,” Linhardt said.

Several agencies were involved in the search for the boat, including Key Colony Beach police, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the U.S. Border Patrol, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Linhardt said.

Recent arrivals

Meanwhile, the flow of Cuban migrants to South Florida and the Florida Keys shows no signs of abatement, and has increased significantly since October, according to federal officials.

Over the weekend, the U.S. Border Patrol said there were three maritime landings in the Keys, with a total of 61 people arriving. Four of those migrants were from India, according to a statement Border Patrol released on Twitter.

A Coast Guard cutter on Monday returned 67 people to Cuba who were intercepted off the Keys in separate incidents between Thursday and Saturday, the agency said.

Since Oct. 1, the Coast Guard has stopped 1,646 people along the Florida Straits trying to migrate to South Florida, said spokeswoman Petty Officer Nicole Groll.

If that pace stays the same or picks up by next September, the final number of migrants intercepted at sea will double the amount encountered between Oct. 1, 2021, and September 2022, which was already the highest seen in eight years.