23309: (Hermantin) Miami-Herald-Pilot suspected of smuggling Haitians (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>


Posted on Tue, Sep. 28, 2004




SOUTHWEST FLORIDA


Pilot suspected of smuggling Haitians

A pilot rented a plane saying he was headed to the Bahamas to pick up
passengers on a church mission. But authorities say his passengers were
Haitian nationals he was trying to smuggle into the United States.

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES

jcharles@herald.com


A pilot who rented a twin-engine plane claiming he was headed to the Bahamas
on a church mission was arrested Monday in Southwest Florida after allegedly
trying to smuggle five Haitian nationals into the United States.

Daniel Johnson, 51, of Trenton, N.J., was arrested by U.S. immigration
authorities at the Everglades City Airpark in Southwest Florida after
authorities were alerted about the aircraft, said Zachary Mann, spokesman
for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

''There was something suspicious about the aircraft when we picked it up on
radar,'' Mann said. ``We didn't know what was in that airplane.''

With no aircraft to intercept the plane, authorities alerted Collier County
deputies, who arrived at the airport before the plane landed. The pilot was
then arrested, along with the five Haitian nationals.

PENDING DECISION

Johnson was still being processed late Monday, and a decision was pending on
whether to detain the Haitians or send them back, said Mann, who declined to
provide additional information about the Haitian nationals.

Sheryl Luitjens, who runs Air Ventures in LaGrange, Ga., with her husband
Jacob, said Johnson rented the plane from them 2 ½ weeks ago for $190 an
hour. She said Johnson told her he was headed to the Bahamas to pick up some
people from a church mission.

Johnson, who presented identification showing he was from Detroit, was
charged 10 hours upfront on a credit card, and promised to return within
four days, Luitjens said.

But four days later, Johnson still wasn't back. When Luitjens reached him,
he said he was headed to Haiti to escape the storm, Sheryl Luitjens said.

`NO, NO'

''We said, `No, no. We are not insured [for Haiti], and we would have never
gone for it,'' Luitjens said. The couple became increasingly worried when
Johnson became ''evasive in the phone calls and trying to get ahold of him''
became nearly impossible.

''He was supposed to be calling us every day and talking to us,'' said
Luitjens.

She said she is just relieved the airplane was returned and it ``was with
people and not something worse. We were kind of nervous. We are just not
insured for trips to Haiti. We call ourselves a mom and pop shop.''

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