FLORIDA (Boca Post) (Copyright © 2026) — Federal authorities have charged four men in connection with an alleged alien smuggling trip that ended in a high-speed maritime pursuit off Miami-Dade County, where law enforcement fired disabling rounds into the vessel’s engine after the operator failed to stop.
The case stems from an interdiction in federal waters off South Florida involving a small center-console boat carrying 15 undocumented migrants toward shore. Prosecutors say the vessel was first detected about 21 miles east of Miami-Dade County and was traveling west.
According to court records, the men charged are Theron Don Mills, 26, of The Bahamas; Oswaldo Sisa Heredia, 39, of Ecuador; Joel Perez-Matos, 41, of the Dominican Republic; and Pablo Antonio Alvarez Rodriguez, 33, also of the Dominican Republic. All four made their initial appearance Monday in federal court.
The pursuit happened March 11, shortly before midnight, when a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations law enforcement vessel located the boat about two miles from shore. Federal authorities say the vessel did not stop when agents moved in.
Instead, prosecutors say, the boat fled. Law enforcement activated lights and sirens, then discharged warning rounds after the operator continued trying to evade authorities. When the vessel still did not stop, agents fired disabling rounds into the engine, which brought the boat to a halt.
Once the vessel was stopped, law enforcement identified 15 aliens on board, according to the complaint. Everyone on the boat was transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter William Fores for biometric screening and records checks.
Those checks, prosecutors say, showed that Mills, Sisa Heredia, Perez-Matos and Alvarez Rodriguez had all previously been deported from the United States.
Each of the four defendants is charged with illegal re-entry of a deported alien. Mills, who prosecutors identify as the vessel’s operator, is also charged with encouraging and inducing aliens to enter the United States.
If convicted, Mills faces up to five years in prison on the inducement charge. Each defendant also faces up to two years in prison on the illegal re-entry charge.
The remaining 11 migrants were not charged. Federal authorities said they were repatriated to The Bahamas.
The case was announced by U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida and Acting Special Agent in Charge Jose R. Figueroa of Homeland Security Investigations’ Miami Field Office. Homeland Security Investigations Miami is leading the investigation with assistance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations and the U.S. Coast Guard.
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Tanner Stiehl is prosecuting the case.
A federal complaint is a charging document and not a conviction. All four defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.
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