Some call them patriots.

Others call them businessmen looking to make some big money.

Collier County sheriff’s deputies simply call them criminals.

And with tightened border security around Florida, this brand of smuggling people, the illegal transporting usually by boat from nations such as Cuba, not only brings big money to the criminals, it has them looking for new places to launch and come ashore too, deputies say.

And Southwest Florida’s coastline, from Everglades City to Sanibel Island, is becoming a destination, authorities say.

“Right now, these people are making a lot of money,” said Collier sheriff’s Sgt. Dave Johnson, of the marine unit and one of the most experienced in investigating human smuggling.

“If we didn’t have the partnerships and the system that we have now, we’d be overrun,” he said.

The price per smuggled person ranges between $8,000 and $10,000 and boats can often be packed with up to 30 people.

In the past 10 days, six arrests were made in a human smuggling case in Collier County, and three boats were seized. The increase in cases in Collier County from 2004 to 2005 was about 20 percent, Johnson said.

Sheriff’s deputies team up with the U.S. Coast Guard and the immigration officials to secure the borders and keep a watch on possible smuggling.

Photo by JUDY LUTZ

Naples Daily News

Members of the media surround a boat that the Collier County Sheriff's Office displayed at their impound yard Wednesday morning. The vessel is believed to have been involved with a human smuggling operation.

More often than making a landing with a dozen or more Cuban nationals, the smugglers will trailer a go-fast boat usually somewhere south of Naples to set off for the Dry Tortugas or the Marquesas islands to meet up with other contacts.

There, they’ll pick up supplies such as fuel to make the several-day round-trip to somewhere off the Cuban coast to pick up their passengers.

“It’s a very complicated, complex process,” Johnson said.

Outfitted sometimes with extra fuel tanks and supplies, such as water, the boats can be easily detected at times. These smugglers-for-hire have a well-timed plan to safely pick up the passengers and get them to the United States illegally.

“The missions are very staged,” he said. “It’s a cat-and-mouse game....It’s all well-organized, though,” he said.

Johnson said some people consider the smugglers patriots. Deputies say what they are doing is illegal and dangerous. Boats rated for eight people are heavy with three times as many people. “They’ve had boats go down,” he said.

Showing off a battered 20-foot go-fast boat in the sheriff’s impound yard Wednesday, Johnson explained the lengths the smugglers will go.

Outfitted with Global Positioning Systems and other navigation aids, the smugglers will often steal boat motors and change hull numbers on boats to make sure they’re not found.

Most of the boats travel at about 40 mph, Johnson said.

“We’ve been working on this for a while and I’m sure we’ll find out where it’s come from,” he said.

The boat also had fishing rods and reels on board.

That’s just a cover in case they’re approached by the police or the Coast Guard, Johnson said. Smugglers playing the role of fishermen.

“Oh, they’ll go a little Hollywood,” he said.

It’s hard to say whether smugglers will avoid Collier County for a while because of the recent busts, he said. It might drop off for a while or someone might be picked up this week again.

“It’s a shell game,” he said.

Deputies say they can use the public’s help in spotting smugglers.

“All members of our community have the ability to detect human smuggling,” Undersheriff Kevin Rambosk said.

Anything suspicious, from extra fuel tanks, to overloaded boats with bottled water, beaten up boats or their passengers appearing to have been on a long, rough trip are just some signs.

Late night and early morning arrivals and departures can also be clues.

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