Man accused of stowing away on cargo ship to Tampa had 2 prior similar encounters, feds say

Federal authorities have charged a man with illegally entering the U.S. by hiding aboard a cargo vessel traveling from the Dominican Republic to Port Tampa Bay.

It’s not the first time he has faced such an accusation; prosecutors say he’s done it at least twice before.

So far, his persistence hasn’t paid off.

A criminal complaint filed June 25 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida accuses 46-year-old Nelson Batista of violating a federal law prohibiting stowaways on vessels or aircraft.

Batista allegedly arrived aboard the Canada Pearl, a bulk carrier cargo ship that traveled from Barahona, Dominican Republic, to Tampa.

Court Watch first flagged the case Friday.

According to an affidavit from Christopher Hileman, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer, authorities were notified June 23 that Batista would be arriving in Tampa as a stowaway aboard the vessel, which was scheduled to dock at Red Wing Berth 302 at Port Tampa Bay the following day.

The complaint says Batista was discovered while the Canada Pearl was heading toward Florida, after which the vessel’s captain notified shipping agent Hunter Villard of the man’s presence. Villard, in turn, alerted CBP.

Under federal law, it is illegal for people to board or conceal themselves on a vessel or aircraft without authorization and remain aboard while traveling across state or national borders. If convicted, Batista faces up to five years in prison, a fine or both.

Prosecutors contend that their investigation established each element of that offense; Batista, they say, boarded without permission, remained aboard during international travel and was discovered only after the vessel had departed.

Notably, the affidavit says a review of federal law enforcement databases found that Batista had two prior encounters with CBP between 2005 and 2006, when he was discovered as a stowaway aboard vessels arriving in Corpus Christi, Texas, from foreign locations.

The complaint does not say where Batista was traveling from in those earlier incidents.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Christopher Tuite approved the complaint June 25. Assistant U.S. Attorney Erik Daab, Deputy Director of the Division of Criminal Justice within the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey, is prosecuting the case, PACER records show.

David Dee, a Tampa-based lawyer in private practice, is serving as Batista’s defense attorney.

Sea stowaway cases reaching Florida ports are relatively uncommon, but they are not unprecedented.

In January 2019, the U.S. Coast Guard and CBP caught three stowaways on a merchant vessel a few miles offshore from PortMiami, before it reached harbor.

In June 2013, authorities discovered three stowaways aboard the cargo ship Melbourne Strait after it arrived at Port Everglades. The vessel’s previous port of call was Venezuela.

And in 2012, four stowaways were apprehended after they jumped ship at the mouth of Port Everglades. That vessel’s last port of call was Puerto Cortes, Honduras.