Oct. 9, 2001 – Caneel Bay Resort had 33 unexpected guests early Tuesday morning when illegal aliens from China swam ashore at the resort's Scott Beach on Hawksnest Bay. All were men between the ages of 19 and 34.
"We gave them sandwiches," Luigi Romaniello, the hotel's resident manager, said.
Police Lt. Rene Garcia said police received a call from resort security officers alerting them to the situation at 1:45 a.m. Romaniello said that as soon as the security officers realized the people on the beach were Chinese, they recognized it was an immigration situation.
"They knew it wasn't a major issue," he said in response to a question about the anxiety experienced by the nation since the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Romaniello said the security officers didn't see the boat that dropped the men off near the beach. Police arrived to take the illegal aliens into custody soon after being called, he said. They were turned over to U.S. Immigration officials at 10:45 a.m.
St. John is favored dropoff location for aliens to enter the United States illegally. In fact, Romaniello said, illegal aliens have come ashore at Caneel Bay Resort before. However, most boat captains prefer to make their drops at more remote bays.
Many Chinese illegal aliens are from the Fujian province, where they pay thousands of dollars for transportation to the United States.