Agents stop boats from Bahamas loaded with cocaine and migrants, court docs say

David Goodhue, Miami Herald on Sep 5, 2025

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MIAMI — Federal agents stopped three boats that were en route to South Florida from the Bahamas and were smuggling large loads of cocaine and dozens of Chinese migrants last week, according to court documents.

U.S. Customs Air and Marine Operations agents stopped the boats last Saturday evening as they neared Fort Pierce Inlet, according to a criminal complaint filed this week by Drug Enforcement Administration agents. The three vessels were carrying a combined total of 31 Chinese migrants, including a child, and 168 kilograms, or 370 pounds, of cocaine, the complaint states.

The maritime stop was the culmination of an investigation started last year into what agents say is a “transnational criminal organization” based in Davie and run by a 44-year-old man named Fiero Cooper.

Davie Police detectives began surveilling his home at the 3000 block of Southwest 59th Street in February 2024. Detectives noticed people coming out of the house carrying totes that were placed into vehicles, according to the complaint.

Davie detectives then found out that the DEA was also looking into Cooper’s group, and the two agencies began a joint investigation.

In the beginning of August, agents located a 38-foot center-console boat with three outboard engines behind a Dania Beach home. A large truck towed the boat to the Stan Bump boat ramp in Fort Pierce on Saturday, the complaint states.

The group then towed a 26-foot Grady White cabin cruiser to the boat ramp, agents said. At around 4:30 a.m., both boats left Fort Pierce Inlet for the Bahamas.

U.S. Coast Guard crews tracked the boats as they traveled to the Bahamas at around 30 miles per hour, according to the complaint.

Shortly after 7 p.m., Customs agents stopped the center console and Grady White as they entered U.S. territorial waters, the complaint states. With those vessels was a 30-foot boat, the operator of which did not stop for the Customs agents. The agents then disabled its engines with gunfire, according to the complaint.

The center console was operated by Cooper and 25-year-old Darren Sears, agents said. The agents found 104 kilos, or 229 pounds, of cocaine packed in Igloo coolers on the back deck of the boat, along with 12 migrants in the center cubby cabin of the vessel, the complaint states.

The Grady White was crewed by Malik Delancy, 24, and 19-year-old Jeremiah Russell, agents said. They were smuggling six migrants inside the cabin, according to the complaint.

The third vessel was operated by 52-year-old Ivan Curry, the complaint states. On board, agents found seven suitcases under seat cushions in the back of the boat containing 64 kilos, or 140 pounds, of cocaine, according to the complaint. Agents said they also found 12 migrants on the boat.

Christopher DeCoste (Cooper’s attorney) said he is “currently innvestigating the allegations.” David Sobel (Sears’ attorney) and Russell Jay Williams (attorney for Curry) declined to comment when reached by the Miami Herald on Friday. Alfredo Izaguirre, attorney for Russell, said, “We will be fighting these charges and look forward to the next court hearing.”

Delancy’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comments from the Miami Herald.

The defendants have pretrial detention hearings scheduled for Sept. 11, according to court documents. They are facing charges of conspiracy to import a controlled substance and encouraging and inducing aliens to enter the United States.

Meanwhile, the Coast Guard said in a press release that the migrants were transferred to the Bahamas on Wednesday aboard the Cutter Winslow Griesser. From there, they will likely be sent back to China. There has been an increase in Chinese nationals using the Bahamas as a jumping point to illegally enter the United States.

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