3 men charged with lobster violations in Monroe County
Arrest part of a large crackdown on undersized lobster harvesting

Posted Wednesday, August 31, 2011

 
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Working a special detail in Monroe County Friday night, officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) arrested three men on numerous lobster-related violations. Officers with the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Border Patrol also participated.

FWC officers observed a boat in the Gulf of Mexico near Sunshine Key operating with no navigation lights and moving in slow circles. When the boat arrived at a boat ramp, one man got off with a 5-gallon bucket, which he dropped when he saw an FWC officer. At that time, the operator of the boat jumped into the water.

Officers inspected the boat and recovered the catch, seizing more than 100 wrung lobster tails, 53 of them undersized, as evidence.

The operator of the boat, Carlos J. Infante (DOB 10/02/69) of Naples, and two passengers, Gustavo Rodriguez (05/05/58) of Miami and Angle J. Vigoa (DOB 07/01/53) of Palm Springs, were charged with possession of wrung tails, possession of undersized lobster and possession of lobster over the allowable limit, all misdemeanors. They face other charges as a result of this case as well.