By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE captain of the vessel that capsized on Sunday had been convicted abroad on several criminal offences related to human smuggling and drug trafficking.

Police Commissioner Clayton Fernander made the revelation yesterday, while telling the press that those responsible for the incident could be charged with several criminal offences ranging from homicide to maritime offences.

Police now have three Bahamian men in custody in connection with Sunday’s boating tragedy that left 17 Haitians, including a young girl, dead.

Two of the men in custody were among the 25 people rescued following the accident.

One of them was the boat captain.

“We did a background check and he was charged for human smuggling in the US and was convicted and spent two years (there),” the police chief said during a press conference. “Also, he was convicted in Cuba and spent eight years for drug trafficking, so we are well on the way with this investigation.”

Police suspect the third Bahamian man - who was arrested hours after the tragedy - was the boat owner.

They said “large sums of cash” were found at his home while officers were conducting a search. A considerable amount of money was also found on the boat captain, police added.

“We have one who we suspect is the owner of the vessel and we have also identified the captain who is one of the individuals who was arrested on Sunday,” Commissioner Fernander said.

“We have also recovered large sums of money during the search of that individual who was arrested on Sunday morning. The owner of the vessel was arrested at his residence and during the search, we also recovered large sums of cash which we believe were proceeds with respect to this matter.”

While he did not disclose the total amount recovered, the police chief said it was enough to buy a new car.

According to police, some 50 people were travelling on a 33ft twin engine vessel when it overturned in rough seas near Blackbeard’s Cay around 1am Sunday.

Officers suspect the boat was enroute to Miami via Grand Bahama.

Several people are still believed to be missing as a result of the accident.

He added: “We are also communicating with our legal department who’s assisting with respect to charges. We are looking at homicides, manslaughter. Once agreed, after pulling all of the facts and evidence together, about 17 counts (including) operating an unregulated vessel, operating a vessel without the prescribed number of life vests and operating as an unregistered captain, we are well on the way with this investigation and so hopefully between now and Friday, charges will be brought.”

He also noted officials are working closely with US counterparts to assist with their investigations.

On Monday, National Security Minister Wayne Munroe pledged to uncover the full extent of operations behind the latest boating incident, noting the illegal activity could be a part of larger transnational organised crime.

“In my mind, something like that doesn’t just pop up and happen so we may be contending with international criminal organisations and – so there will be investigations to discover how this operation is put together,” he told reporters.

“Is it localised? Does it involve persons in the US? Does it involve persons from Haiti? Is it a transnational gang? Our law enforcement officials will address that as expeditiously as they can.”