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Hijacking or 'freedom flight'?

The trial of six Cuban men accused of hijacking a plane on March 19 from Cuba to Key West begins.

By Cara Buckley, Miami Herald. Posted on Tue, Dec. 02, 2003.

KEY WEST -- The Cuban plane was in midair, its Havana destination in sight, when a large bang from the cabin told the pilot there was trouble.

The problem wasn't the mechanics, he quickly discovered, it was the cockpit door: Someone was bashing it in.

Then, someone fell on him, and he felt a blade pressed hard to his throat. For an instant, he had to let go of the plane's controls. Six minutes ed before he could radio out his warning. ''Havana,'' he said, "we have a hijacking.''

A federal court in Key West heard this testimony Monday from Daniel Blas Corra Snchez, the pilot of the DC-3 flight that prosecutors say was skyjacked March 19 from Nueva Gerona, Cuba, to Key West. The politically tense trial started Monday and is expected to last five to seven days.

Six Cuban men -- Alexis Norneilla Morales, 31, Eduardo Javier Meja Morales, 26, Yainer Olivares Samn, 21, Neudis Infantes Hernndez, 31, Alvenis Arias Izquierdo, 24, and Miakel Guerra Morales, 31 -- face four counts each of conspiracy to commit air piracy, air piracy and interfering with a flight crew. If convicted, they face between 20 years and life in prison.

CAREFULLY PLOTTED

In their opening statement, prosecutors said Monday the skyjacking had been carefully plotted over the course of a year, and that the hijackers ''viciously and aggressively'' overwhelmed the flight crew and engers with foot-long knives, tape and an emergency hatchet. Crew were tied up and thrown in a heap in the back of the plane, prosecutors said, and one struggled to breathe.

''Each [hijacker] had their distinct role,'' Assistant U.S. Attorney John Delionado said.

Defense lawyers countered that the suspects colluded with the crew before March 19, and that airport workers assisted Norneilla, the self-described ringleader, in planting knives on the plane. Stewart Abrams, an assistant federal public defender and one of six lawyers representing the six suspects, said that throughout the ordeal, Norneilla thought that everyone on the plane was ''on board'' with their coming to the United States. That understood complicity, Abrams said, meant there was no wrongful intent in the purported skyjacking, and thus no crime.

Reemberto Diaz, another defense lawyer, said that rather than being a hijacked plane, the DC-3 was "a freedom flight.''

The pilot testified, though, that he did not know the suspects prior to March 19. He said the DC-3, a World War II-era propeller plane, was five minutes from landing in Havana when the hijacking occurred. He pointed out Norneilla as the man who held a knife to his throat, and testified that Norneilla told him to ''fly north to Miami,'' while a second hijacker, Olivares, guarded the cabin with an ax.

''I had to lean myself backward, and for an instant let go of the controls,'' the pilot testified. "He was pressing hard. If I had leaned forward, he would have have cut my throat''.

Minutes later, the pilot turned north and sent out an internationally known emergency signal indicating a hijacking was under way.

The pilot said that after he told Norneilla there was not enough fuel to get to Miami, Norneilla said to reach anyplace, even to land in the sea. The pilot and co-pilot then suggested Key West, and Havana radioed coordinates.

The hijacking signal immediately sent U.S. Air Force pilots in Homestead scrambling, a U.S. Air Force captain told the court, and two F15 fighter jets escorted the plane to land. After the flight landed, the suspects immediately tossed their weapons out.

The testimony from the Air Force captain and the Cuban pilot followed three hours of jury selection. Five women and seven men will decide the Cubans' fate.

Prosecutors expect to call another crew member from Cuba and two Cuban engers who decided to stay in the United States. Of the 31 engers on the flight, 14 -- some of them family of the alleged hijackers -- opted to stay in the United States. No one aboard the flight was hurt.

SETBACKS

Prosecutors and defense lawyers went into the trial with their hands tied.

The confessions of three alleged hijackers were thrown out after it was revealed that the FBI did not advise them of their Miranda rights. And defense lawyers said that while on a visit to Cuba to interview witnesses in August, they were held in an airport and prevented from gathering testimony.

Ana Jhones, who represents Guerra, is asking U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King to allow defense lawyers to travel to Cuba and take depositions in a secure room in the U.S. Interests Section in Havana.

The judge is expected to consider the motion today.

More migrants being halted off U.S. coast

Improved coordination by federal agencies leads to an increased number of undocumented migrants being stopped at sea.

By Alfonso Chardy, [emailprotected]. Posted on Mon, Dec. 01, 2003 in The Miami Herald.

The rickety 60-foot sailing boat, overloaded with dozens of undocumented migrants, was spotted in mid-November near one of the southernmost islands in the Bahamas.

Gallatin, a Coast Guard cutter based in Charleston, S.C., was dispatched to intercept the vessel. It succeeded 40 miles northwest of Great Inagua, just north of Cuba, and the 204 people aboard -- 203 Haitians and one Cuban -- were repatriated.

The interdiction of the vessel, likely bound for South Florida, illustrates a growing trend: Interceptions are becoming more frequent, and arrivals of large migrant-laden boats more infrequent on local shores -- which federal officials link to more efficient detection techniques under the new Department of Homeland Security.

Figures recently released by the U.S. Coast Guard show a sharp jump in the number of migrant interdictions along U.S. shores and in waters traditionally used by migrant boats, including the Florida Straits and the Windward age between Cuba and Haiti.

Officials say their agencies are coordinating efforts better now that they're all under Homeland Security. Interception figures also show that more people are leaving their homelands -- despite the U.S. policy of detaining most migrants who arrive by sea to deter voyages by others.

In fiscal year 2003, which ended Sept. 30, 6,068 migrants were prevented from reaching shore -- the largest number of interdictions in seven years. Calendar year figures also show an increase: 5,142 interdictions in 2002 compared to 4,136 in 2001. So far this year, 4,720 migrants have been stopped.

HAITIANS AT TOP

In the fiscal year figures, the largest number of migrants stopped was Haitians -- 2,013 in 2003 compared to 1,486 in 2002 -- followed by Dominicans with 1,748 stopped in 2003 versus 177 in 2002, and Cubans -- 1,555 in 2003 and 666 in 2002.

''You have an increase in successful interdictions because of the increased interagency cooperation and the ability to share resources and capabilities,'' said Lt. Tony Russell, public affairs officer for the Seventh Coast Guard District in Miami.

Russell and other U.S. officials said improved coordination stems from the merger of several agencies into the new Department of Homeland Security. On March 1, Customs, the Coast Guard and immigration, among other agencies, folded into Homeland Security.

Before the takeover, those agencies reported to different departments: Coast Guard to Transportation, Customs to Treasury and immigration to Justice.

The merger came in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks after federal officials concluded that hijackers went undetected largely because of lack of coordination and sharing of information among government agencies.

LIMITED ASSISTANCE

Coordination and information sharing among border and coastal security agencies did exist before Homeland Security, but it was limited and circuitous.

Said Russell: "A year ago, in a migrant interdiction, for example, you might have a boat spotted by a Customs aircraft, which would have been Department of the Treasury, and then that information was relayed to the Coast Guard, which was Department of Transportation.

"They would share the information with the Border Patrol, which was Department of Justice, and you'd end up with three separate departments to try to stop one boat. Now you have an Immigration and Customs Enforcement aircraft spotting the vessel and ing the information to the Coast Guard, and both are Department of Homeland Security.''

Border Patrol officials in Miami confirm that more interdictions have meant fewer arrivals of undocumented migrants. In fiscal year 2003, 1,267 undocumented migrants reached South Florida -- 242 less than in fiscal year 2002, according to the Border Patrol.

''We have, in fact, noticed fewer arrivals over the last year and we're certain that the largest reason for that is because of shared intelligence and improved communication between all of the Homeland Security agency components,'' said Keith Roberts, assistant chief Customs and Border Protection-U.S. Border Patrol for Miami. "We've gotten to the point where we're sharing real-time communications -- telephonic and electronic and cooperative or t field tactics.''

Despite the improved coordination, officials say small numbers of migrants still manage to avoid detection, especially those who are smuggled in.

A year ago, Roberts said, smugglers brought larger numbers of illegal migrants aboard unsafe boats. Now they are using faster vessels and bringing smaller groups.

The evidence is in the statistics: Ten more vessels carrying illegal migrants reached South Florida in fiscal year 2003 -- 110 compared to the 100 in 2002. But they brought fewer migrants: 1,267 versus 1,509, Roberts said.

INS BREAKUP

Some immigration advocates linked improved effectiveness to the breakup of the former Immigration and Naturalization Service into service and enforcement components as a result of the Homeland Security takeover.

''Splitting INS is allowing the enforcement side to act on its own intelligence,'' said Michael Bander, a veteran Miami immigration attorney. "They are more effective because of the division of responsibilities.''

However, Cheryl Little, executive director of Miami-based Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, said it also shows the failure of a controversial federal policy of trying to discourage illegal migration by indefinitely detaining migrants who arrive by sea -- except Cubans, who are permitted by law to stay if they reach land.

''The figures show that detention as a deterrent doesn't work,'' she said.

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