Role of Ship’s Crew Probed in INS Case

Federal agents Thursday continued their investigation into whether the captain and crew of an Asian cargo ship now anchored in Long Beach attempted to smuggle 53 Chinese nationals into the United States.

The illegal immigrants were found this week inside several compartments and a ballast tank aboard the Pu Progress, a 500-foot bulk carrier registered in Singapore.

Officials from the Immigration and Naturalization Service said the Chinese, all men and teenage boys, have been detained pending deportation proceedings. They appear to be in good health, according to the INS.

Coast Guard officials said it is not known how long the immigrants were aboard the vessel before they were discovered Tuesday night by the Customs Service. Acting on a tip, federal officers found nine immigrants that day and 44 on Wednesday.

Some were hidden in an empty ballast tank aft while others were in two compartments of a forward cargo hold filled with 50-pound bags of paraffin wax. The areas also contained food and water.

“This is the largest seizure of illegal immigrants we have had in six years,” said Coast Guard Lt. Jeanne Reincke. “They were found in compartments of the ship you normally would not go into during a voyage.”

On Thursday, authorities resumed questioning the Chinese nationals, as well as the ship’s crew, but said they have not made any arrests. Agents are trying to determine whether the ship is part of a broader scheme to smuggle immigrants.

Reincke said that suspicions about the Pu Progress began last week when the Coast Guard received a faxed message from the vessel’s owner stating that the people who chartered the ship from him had not made any payments since May.

A transponder aboard the ship allowed the Coast Guard to locate the vessel off Point Conception, where the ship’s crew was stopping the engines and then drifting for a while before starting them again.

Reincke said several attempts to hail the Pu Progress by radio were unsuccessful. Finally, the Coast Guard sent an 82-foot cutter from Santa Barbara to contact the crew. According to the Coast Guard, the captain said he had engine trouble and wanted permission to enter the Port of Long Beach.

After arriving in the harbor this week, Customs Service officials said they received a tip that “something fishy” was happening aboard the Pu Progress. Agents boarded the vessel Tuesday afternoon.

This year, immigration officials have detained 113 illegal immigrants aboard ships arriving in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Four cases have involved Chinese nationals, according to the Coast Guard.

A few months ago in Long Beach, federal authorities boarded a freighter from Hong Kong and found 15 Chinese nationals inside a 40-foot shipping container.