Two try to sneak into Guam from Rota using rubber boat

Two male Chinese nationals who were rescued by Department of Public Safety Boating Safety officers from a distressed inflatable boat in the ocean near Rota last month were actually attempting to sneak into Guam, authorities learned.

In information filed yesterday in the U.S. District Courtm the U.S. government charged Jingzhi Zeng with one count of entering the U.S. by willfully false and misleading representation and willful concealment of material fact.

According to court papers, the 24-year-old Zheng has been in administrative custody of the Homeland Security Investigations since his arrest on April 23, 2012.

It is not clear yet whether charges was filed or will also be filed against Zheng’s companion, Jingqiang Huang.

According to the charging document, Zheng entered Saipan on April 4, 2012, stating he was a tourist and was going to return to China on April 9, 2012.

Zheng, however, secretly intended to travel from Rota to Guam by inflatable boat, and once in Guam, to remain there, according to assistant U.S. attorney Ross K. Naughton.

HIS special agent Isra D. Harahap stated in an affidavit that, on April 22, 2012, Boating Safety officers on Rota responded to a distressed inflatable boat some two miles off the shores of Rota.

The officers located the boat and rescued its two passengers, later identified as Zheng and Huang.

The two presented their Chinese passports and the HIS resident agent on Saipan was notified of the incident.

Immigration records show that Zheng had overstayed his parole into the CNMI since April 16, 2012.

In an interview with Zheng and Huang on April 23, 2012, an HSI special agent learned that Zheng bought a one-way ticket from Saipan to Rota.

Huang allegedly bought the inflatable boat in China and brought it to Rota through Saipan. The two launched the boat at the pier close to the Coral Garden Hotel on Rota around midnight. The two initially said they were just going fishing.

Huang allegedly confessed during later interviews that they were attempting to row the boat from Rota to Guam. Huang reportedly said that once they land in Guam, they would contact a Chinese national who lives there to pick them up.

Zheng said he got the idea of sneaking into Guam from Rota through the Internet before coming to the CNMI in April 2012.

Zheng was served with an expedited removal order and placed in custody at the Department of Corrections awaiting deportation to China.