A Miami shipping operation has had its local business licenses revoked after a federal agency caught a vessel traveling from the Miami River to the port of Mariel, Cuba, carrying cement with no legal authorization to do so.
Miami-Dade County Tax Collector Dariel Fernandez said his office revoked the Local Business Tax Receipts of Cargo Caribe LLC, along with Harkham Shipping LLC and MV Tinto Shipping LTD, the companies that operated the terminal and vessel used in the unlicensed shipment. According to federal authorities, the vessel traveled from the Miami River to Mariel, where the cement cargo was offloaded, all without the proper authorizations required under federal law.
The action is one more in a series Fernandez’s ongoing enforcement drive. While some of his previous actions have triggered criticism for lacking direct federal confirmation of wrongdoing, in this case the tip came directly from a federal agency that tracked the vessel’s movement and confirmed the offloaded cargo…