2 accused of planning to bring 15 immigrants on boat to U.S.

  BY NANCY SAN MARTIN

  A Florida-registered speed boat that was to ferry a group of would-be migrants to the United States illegally has been seized by Cuban authorities, the Cuban
  government said Friday.

  One suspected smuggler is in custody and authorities were searching for a crew member. The incident was the first smuggling-related detention following stern warnings from the Cuban government this week intended to quash rumors of an impending exodus by sea.

  Cuban officials said two men -- identified as César Rufino Díaz Aparicio and José Gabriel Cruz Rodríguez -- were to bring 15 people, including 3- and 5-year-old girls, across the Florida Straits from the island's northern coast in Villa Clara province.

  The 24-foot white boat with twin outboard engines was spotted at about 10 p.m. Wednesday at Punta Higuereta, said an official government note Friday in the Communist Party daily Granma.

  REGISTRATION

  When Cuban border guards intercepted the boat, two crew members jumped into the water. The boat was registered to a Miami woman named Yelennys Albuernez, whose Florida's driver's license listed a dilapidated wooden home on the edge of Miami's Little Havana as her address.

  But neighbors said the home in an overgrown lot off Southwest 27th Avenue has been vacant for at least two years.

  According to Florida records, Albuernez, 27, was issued a driver's license on Nov. 3, 2000. Efforts to reach her were unsuccessful.

  U.S. investigators said the boat appeared to have the classic case of a ''straw owner.'' Smugglers often will use other people's names and credit histories to purchase boats The individuals often are fairly new arrivals who also were smuggled into the United States and loan their names as part of a pay-back fee.

  Rufino was apprehended shortly after 3 a.m. Thursday near where the boat was seized. Authorities said he was born in Cuba, fled in July 2000 and was most recently living in New Jersey. The Herald could not locate anyone related to Rufino.

  Cruz, the other alleged crew member, was born in Cuba, left for Russia last year, and has been living in the United States for the past two months, Cuban officials said.

  The 15 people had been waiting since Tuesday for the boat, which was scheduled to leave Thursday, officials said.

  Cuban authorities said food and life jackets inside the boat ''indicated a migrant trafficking operation,'' the statement said.

  U.S. officials agreed: ''This looks like a typical smuggling load,'' said Joe Mellia, a Border Patrol spokesman. ``That's what they do: they go to a spot, the people are there, they pick them up and they're off.

  Widespread rumors over the past several days fueled speculation that an exodus was to begin July 4, the same day officials said the group was to leave.

  SECURITY INCREASED

  The Cuban government increased security along its coast and broadcast repeated warnings on state radio and television, saying they would not permit illegal departures and would go after unauthorized vessels caught in Cuban waters.

  Cuban authorities notified the U.S. Coast Guard by Telex Friday of the arrest, said Coast Guard spokesman Luis Diaz.

  Over the past year, Cuban border authorities have regularly passed on information to the agency's 7th District office in Miami.

  ''They are really clamping down in Cuba, clamping down on people leaving,'' Diaz said. ``It seems like there is a lot of vigilance now. I guess they don't want a mass
  exodus. Neither do we. It's wrong. We don't want people to lose their lives.''

  Herald staff writer Jennifer Babson and Herald intern Larissa Ruiz Campo contributed to this report.