Police Commissioner Atlee Rodney (Photo by Makeida Antonio)
As local authorities continue to investigate the tragic incident involving two Antiguans and 30 Cameroonians, Police Commissioner Atlee Rodney says several persons could be arrested under the Migrant Smuggling Act
Rodney told Antigua.news on the sidelines of a press conference that an investigation has been launched into the case of migrant smuggling which has caused the death of 14 Cameroonians.
Last week Tuesday, a French fishing vessel named La Belle Michele was attempting to transport the Cameroonians to St Thomas but capsized some 12 miles (19 km) south of St. Kitts’ Conaree village.
“We don’t want to zero it down to just the two Antiguans because there can be other players involved. We are also looking at whether there are other persons from Antigua who were involved. We are broadening the scope of the investigation. That is the direction we are going,” Rodney said
He said once anyone is found guilty of violating the Migrant Smuggling Act, they will be charged
“Were persons violating the act? If that’s the case, who were they? And then we will have to take the appropriate action”, he said
A French national is assisting police with investigations after he claimed that his vessel was stolen from Antigua.
Commissioner Rodney u need to start investigating Gaston brown and marvelous mike for human trafficking also. U guys seems to be focusing on the boat captain and not studying the Genesis of this situation.
He kept talking and up to now he cannot tell the public of Antigua and Barbuda the names of the two Antiguan captains on the boat. When will he release that information to the public? A lot of people in Antigua and Barbuda and around the world already know who they are. Their pictures and names have been circling around social media including the vehicle one of them owns that was found by ABPF parkup (you know where Mr. Commssioner).
It seems you have more information than those who are investigating. We should bring you in for questioning. You seem to know a lot …