Locals involved in smuggling Chinese nat’ls to Guam have not been charged

The local residents involved in illegally transporting 27 Chinese nationals from Saipan to Guam this month have not been charged, according to Franklin Babauta, special assistant for CNMI Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

Babauta said in an interview that the two captains of the boats that were used to illegally transport 27 undocumented individuals from Saipan to Guam have not been charged as of press time.

“Local individuals who were involved in the crime have not been charged. No arrests have been made on these local individuals [either]. We are waiting for investigators to determine whether these local individuals will be charged,” he said.

The 27 individuals who tried to enter Guam illegally have already been charged by the federal government. These individuals remain in Guam and are currently awaiting transfer from Guam to Saipan as they will be tried before the U.S. District Court for the NMI.

Babauta explained that U.S. Homeland Security Investigators have taken over the case and continue to investigate the matter. HSEM is currently waiting for their full report and will disseminate that information to the public to spread awareness.

“We are now just waiting for investigators to file their report. We want to share this information with the community so that they know, should they see anything suspicious, to call [the Department of Public Safety] and let them know. Then we will take it from there. We want the public to also be vigilant and if they see anything suspicious, report it, and let the law enforcement know so we can stop this kind of incidents and keep it from becoming an international issue,” he said.

Babauta said this is the first case of this kind that HSEM has gotten involved with. The federal government has charged and sentenced numerous Chinese nationals over the last few months for similar incidences.

According to Saipan Tribune archives, the 27 Chinese nationals were intercepted upon their unauthorized arrival into Guam in the last two weeks. Of that number, 21 were intercepted last Saturday while the other six were intercepted over a week ago.

Their arrival was intercepted at Ritidian Point in the northern part of Guam. The Chinese nationals had been transported to Guam from Saipan on vessels owned by CNMI residents. The boats intercepted Saturday were making their way back to Saipan but were diverted to Rota.

While investigations are currently ongoing, enforcement personnel believe these Chinese nationals travelled by boat because they wanted to avoid immigration processes that were anticipated if travel was completed by commercial plane.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security noted that the individuals were in various immigration statuses including long-term overstays from conditional parole, or under expired work visas.