THE JAPANESE Embassy has denied that Japanese migrants are involved in a suspected case of trafficking in persons in Black River, St. Elizabeth.
In a release issued yesterday regarding the incident which occurred on August 13, the Embassy said "its thorough investigation revealed that all the passports used by the eight individuals in question were not authentic, the details were correct but the pictures were switched."
The Embassy said the passports had been reported stolen from the Japanese nationals and have since been reissued.
In the meantime, Howard Marks, the owner of the Amber Rae fishing vessel, has denied that he is involved in trafficking in persons, and has said that he had no knowledge that the passports used by the individuals were fake.
"I charged these Asians US$500 per person to carry them to Cayman and back, not US$3,800," he said in response to previous reports.
WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE
He added: "The passports were legally stamped by Customs, and they were legally returned to Jamaica. I am not involved in trafficking. How could I have known that the passports were fake?"
The boat is reportedly operated by the Polar Fisheries company which is based in the towns of Montego Bay and Black River.
In 2004, over 580 fake Japanese passports were reported at immigration offices world-wide, and in Jamaica, between 2003 and 2004, 17 fake passports were reported, the Japanese Embassy said.
It had been reported yesterday that eight nationals believed to be ethnic Asians went by boat to the Cayman Islands and back. On the boat's return, the Black River coastguard seized the vessel.
