By RICK JERVIS
             Herald Staff Writer

             The image of refugees coming over to U.S. shores across shark-infested waters on
             flimsy rafts is fading into the past.

             Instead, hundreds of undocumented immigrants sneaking into South Florida from
             nearby island countries are being ferried over by a burgeoning and lucrative system
             of smugglers.

             And U.S. Border Patrol agents in Miami are scrambling to catch them.

             Border Patrol investigators are working on 14 open cases of known smugglers,
             said Mark Sheehy, deputy chief for the U.S. Border Patrol in Miami.

             Through interviews with recent arrivals at Krome Detention Center, questioning of
             suspects and lifting fingerprints off suspected boats, agents are piecing together an
             intricate smuggling industry, Sheehy said.

             Another case was added Monday when two Hialeah men were questioned and
             released by Border Patrol, suspected of smuggling 22 Cubans into Big Pine Key
             aboard their 28-foot Bimini-top cruiser.

             ``It's definitely a problem,'' Sheehy said. ``The raft is almost nonexistent. There has
             been no indication that they're bringing themselves over.''

             Since October, there have been 21 known landings, bringing 201 illegal
             immigrants, mostly from Haiti and Cuba. All of them are believed to have been
             smuggled, Sheehy said.

             In their last fiscal year, from October 1997 to September 1998, Border Patrol
             agents documented 151 landings, yielding 1,100 illegal immigrants. Of those
             landings, 129 are known to be smuggling cases.

             Just this week, there have been four cases.

             On Monday, telephone-line repair crews in Big Pine Key told authorities they saw
             a boat drop off 22 Cubans. Later that morning, Florida Marine Patrol agents
             stopped two men aboard a boat matching the description and turned them over to
             Border Patrol for questioning.

             They were released later that day.

             ``Still under investigation,'' Sheehy said.

             Also on Monday, three Cubans -- a couple and their child -- showed up at Dinner
             Key in Miami. They said they swam to shore when their boat sank near the
             coastline, but their clothes were dry, Border Patrol officials said.

             On Sunday afternoon, the U.S. Coast Guard discovered 14 Cubans from the
             island and one from Miami aboard a boat near Dog Rocks in Cay Sal Bank, a
             string of Bahamian islands between Cuba and the Keys. Authorities believe they
             were Florida-bound.

             All are being investigated by the Border Patrol's eight-member investigation squad.
             If caught and convicted, smugglers could face five years in prison per alien
             smuggled.

             In June, Border Patrol agents arrested two Miami men and seized their speedboat
             after they were stopped at sea with 37 Cubans on board.

             Agents believe several rings of organized smugglers are operating around South
             Florida -- from Key West to Palm Beach County.

             ``This has been a long summer,'' said Dan Geoghegan, assistant chief of the
             Border Patrol and supervisor at the West Palm Beach and Miami offices. ``It's
             wearisome work. The agents get worn down.''

             People desperate to leave their country are usually paying between $3,000 and
             $9,000 to be smuggled into the United States, Sheehy said. The aliens many times
             are shuttled to the Bahamas from Haiti or Cuba, then brought over by a different
             smuggler to the South Florida coast.

             More exiles in Miami mean more money available to help relatives in foreign
             countries escape, Sheehy said.

             ``They're making big dough,'' Geoghegan said. ``We're starting to see the same
             people who were smuggling narcotics now smuggling aliens. They figure they're
             taking a bigger risk with narcotics.''

             Border Patrol agents are also spotting rings of repeat smugglers and noticing
             ``drop-off'' spots for different nationalities of aliens: Haitian nationals being
             dropped off in Palm Beach County and Miami, Cubans in the Middle and Lower
             Keys.

             Many times, the immigrants are dropped off at a beach point and shuttled down
             the coast in a truck or car by another smuggler, so as not to tip authorities to
             drop-off points, Geoghegan said.

             Border Patrol agents work closely with the U.S. Coast Guard, Florida Marine
             Patrol and local sheriff's offices to investigate the smuggling cases. The cases are
             then handed over to the U.S. attorney's office for prosecution.

             But patrolling a 225-mile coastal area from Key West to Palm Beach County, plus
             the Bahamian islands, has proven difficult work, Geoghegan said.

             ``We're stretched pretty thin,'' he said. ``And we don't anticipate getting any help
             anytime soon.''

             Herald staff writer Rick Jervis can be reached by email at rjervis@herald.com
 

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