A Jamaican man who was previously deported from the United States after being convicted on felony drug charges, has again been arrested by US authorities.
He is among several people charged by the United States Customs and Border Protection Agency for the illegal smuggling of migrants into the country last week.
According to US officials, a customs boat pulled over a vessel carrying migrants off Lake Worth Inlet in Palm Beach County in Florida last week.
A total of 15 people from eight countries, including Jamaica, were on the 26-foot vessel.
Two of the suspected smugglers are from the Bahamas.
According to the criminal complaint the other two, Shane Anthony Clacken and Joel Dataram, are from Jamaica and Guyana respectively.
Clacken and Dataram were arrested on charges of attempting to re-enter the United States after having been previously deported, in addition to human smuggling.
Both were previously convicted on felony drug charges before being deported.
Five others on the boat were also arrested on charges of attempting to re-enter the U.S. after having been previously deported.
They, too, were all previously convicted of felonies.
Homeland Security Investigation agents interviewed the passengers on Saturday.
The passengers stated they paid unidentified Bahamians for a spot on the boat.
According to the migrants they paid between US$1,500.
The boat departed from Freeport, Bahamas, on May 8.
