Editor's Note: Click here to watch a video report related to this article. ISLAMORADA, Florida -- Bound at the wrists and ankles, a Cuban man accused of smuggling a boatload of his countrymen from the communist island to U.S. shores is loaded off the deck of a Coast Guard Cutter and onto a small, swift vessel that whisks him to the Florida Keys. There, customs and immigration officials await his arrival at Coast Guard Station Islamorada beneath a picnic shelter used as an impromptu interrogation center. The suspect -- a resident Cuban alien -- is questioned about the knife, bullets and camouflage flak jacket found in his boat, not to mention the 27 Cubans crammed into his small, dilapidated speedboat.
<<ad>>
Still wearing a Coast Guard life preserver, he claims he's part of a revolutionary group hoping to topple the Castro regime, a story none of the Coastguardsmen are apt to believe.
Florida Keys are a Haven for Smugglers of Cuban Migrants
![Florida Keys are a Haven for Smugglers of Cuban Migrants](https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/Interdication_At_Sea_Carmen.jpg?w=120&h=90&crop=1)