Stowaways dive for brief freedom

1 of 11 Dominicans remains at large

By Monica Rhor and Mac Daniel, Globe Staff, 8/26/2003

Ten of 11 stowaways from the Dominican Republic were plucked from the Mystic River yesterday afternoon after a few minutes of freedom they won by jumping overboard from a cargo ship docked in Everett.

Authorities were still searching for the 11th late yesterday in and around the gritty Island End Industrial Park, located within a quarter mile of one of the East Coast's most volatile natural gas facilities.

The men were taken into custody by federal immigration authorities. Typically, people caught trying to enter the country illegally, such as the stowaways, are immediately deported to their home country.

The attempted escape occurred shortly before 4 p.m., several hours after the arrival of the MV Star Chaser to pick up a load of cargo from Prolerized New England, a scrap metal recycling company. Within moments of the escape, the area was filled with police cars, canine units, immigration officials, fire engines, and Coast Guard boats.

The search for the missing stowaway seemed to take on a special urgency because of the location of the incident, close to a port where tankers carrying highly flammable liquid gas regularly enter. Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino and other officials have expressed fear that tankers could be attacked or turned into weapons of mass destruction.

Following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Menino and officials of seven nearby communities went to federal court to try to stop the import of natural gas through Boston Harbor. The shipments resumed on Oct. 29, 2001, under the watch of patrol gunboats, police divers, sharpshooters, bomb squads, and a helicopter.

However, officials said the incident yesterday did not signal a breach in security.

Sergeant Bob Guiney of the Boston Police Department, the harbormaster, said he called Menino to tell him about the incident and to assure him that there was no threat to public safety.

Julie Vitek, a spokeswoman for Distrigas, which has a liquid gas facility near the industrial park, said security measures at the facility are tight, and include fencing and 24-hour security guards.

"We've worked to develop a coordinated security response plan around the island and industrial park," said Vitek. "At our terminal we have security guards and a security supervisor on duty around the clock, and we have robust perimeter security."

Yesterday's near escape began to unfold a day earlier, when the ship's master discovered the 11 stowaways hiding aboard the MV Star Chaser. They had apparently been hiding since the ship left the Dominican Republic, where it had last docked.

According to Customs and Border Protection spokesman Jim Michie, officials from his agency, the Coast Guard, and the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement boarded the ship on Sunday, shortly after being notified by the ship's master. The federal officials interviewed all 11 stowaways, as well as every member of the Philippine crew, and determined that they did not pose a security risk.

"We made an arrangement with the master that he would secure all 11 stowaways for the duration of the port visit, and then return to the Dominican Republic with the stowaways," said Michie.

The Star Chaser, a steel hauler flagged out of South Korea, but registered in Panama, was then allowed to enter the waters near the industrial park and proceed to pick up a cargo of scrap metal from Prolerized New England.

The ship docked sometime yesterday morning. After it docked, the 11 stowaways managed to break out of the secure facilities aboard the ship and bolted from the Star Chaser. Details of their escape were unclear late yesterday; one source said they had escaped when they were brought lunch.

For hours, police officers and law enforcement officials from local, state, and federal agencies canvassed the crannies and crevices of the maze-like industrial park in search of the 11th stowaway. They scoured warehouses, peered under trailers used as temporary offices, and used police dogs to maneuver through scrap yards heaped with twisted metal.

At one point, police were questioning passers-by in an attempt to find the missing stowaway. One man, stopped by police on Route 99, was an undocumented immigrant. He was taken into custody by immigration officials.

One employee of Prolerized New England, who did not want to be identified, said the plant erupted into chaos after the stowaways jumped overboard and law enforcement officials from the Everett Police, State Police, MBTA, and federal immigration and customs agencies descended to conduct their search.

By early evening, the whirl of activity had died down. Officials sealed off access to and from the MV Star Chaser, which remained docked in front of the Prolerized facility. Immigration officials drove the 10 captured stowaways off in a van with tinted windows.

"They just wanted their freedom," the Prolerized employee said, referring to the stowaways.

Globe correspondent Sasha Talcott and Scott S. Greenberger of the Globe staff contributed to this report.