Two men caught with boat stolen from Miami
Suspect claims "trying to return to Cuba"

Posted Sunday, February 1, 2009

 
 E-mail this page
 Printer-friendly page

Two men were arrested Friday after they were caught on board a 33 foot Hydrosport boat stolen from Miami.

Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) Officers were on patrol offshore of Islamorada Friday morning at 11:30 a.m. when they spotted the vessel and
attempted to stop and check it. When the boat failed to stop, they activated emergency equipment, sped up and caught it. They immediately
noticed a number of 15 gallon plastic containers filled with fuel on the deck of the boat. The two men on board were detained and taken to the
Coast Guard Station in Islamorada.

A check of the boat revealed it had been reported stolen earlier that same morning from behind a home in Key Biscayne. The owner said he'd
left the extra keys to the boat on board.

28 year old Pedro Ceballos of Key Largo and 31 year old Lazaro Rodriguez of Kendall were both questioned about the boat and where they were
going. Ceballos said he was picked up at his girlfriend's house in Homestead by someone he doesn't know and taken to an unknown marina
where he got onto the boat with Rodriguez; Rodriguez says he was picked up at an unknown marina by an unknown person on a jet ski and taken to
the boat, which was already running with the extra fuel on board. Rodriguez said he wanted to return to Cuba because he was tired of
living in the United States.

CBP contacted the Sheriff's Office and Deputy Nelson Sanchez responded to the Coast Guard station. He took both men into custody, charging them
with grand theft of the vessel. They were booked into jail.