Celebrating the crew’s return (from left) are Jernel Bique, Maeva Bret-Dibat, Lily Alexandre (hostess), Charlie Vaughn Swinton (captain), Chantal te Koppele and Private Yacht Charter owner Pierre Altier. (Robert Luckock photo)
PHILIPSBURG--The crew of charter catamaran Mojito was released by the British Virgin Islands (BVI) authorities on Saturday, arriving back at Bobby’s Marina around 1:00pm after a twelve-day ordeal in a Tortola detention centre. The catamaran had also been impounded.
Their release, and the vessel’s, were secured through payment of a US $12,000 fine by Mojito owner Private Yacht Charter after days of negotiation between the Tortola lawyer acting on behalf Private Yacht Charter and BVI Customs and Immigration.
Captain Charlie Vaughn and hostess Lily Alexandre were held initially on suspicion of human trafficking and crossing borders illegally, but this was not pursued. However, Vaughn was charged with “landing in the territory without leave of an immigration officer” and “allowing persons to land without leave of an immigration officer”. The hostess was not charged with any offence, but was still held in custody.
The crew had unsuspectingly taken on board a group of seven Romanian migrants who had booked and paid for a four-day charter in the BVI through an online booking platform. Arriving in Tortola at 1:00am on December 6, the group had pressured the captain to dock the vessel on the pretence that a member of the group, a pregnant woman, was very sick. The captain’s radio calls for medical assistance were unanswered.
Once on land the group escaped, but were subsequently arrested in St. Thomas, the US Virgin Islands (USVI), the next day and charged with illegal entry into the USA through St. Thomas. One Romanian in the group was wanted for murder, according to a USVI news report.
Vaughn said he was very grateful to be back in St. Maarten but had some criticism for the Ministry of Justice.
“The fact that we didn’t have Dutch passports and the Ministry of Justice saying they could do nothing for us was not nice at all,” said Vaughn. “I think if you are a resident and living all your life in St. Maarten, something could have been done for us to speed things up. Lily was born and raised in St. Maarten. The Justice Ministry needs to look into these things and make some changes in the laws.”
The pair were kept in a hotel converted into a makeshift detention centre. “It could have been worse. We could have been in jail cells,” Vaughn added.
Alexandre said it was an experience she would never want to go through again.
Private Yacht Charter owner Pierre Altier said he was “tremendously relieved” that the case is now closed and the crew are back in St. Maarten in time for Christmas.
