A total of 16 Chinese nationals have been indicted in the CNMI federal District Court for illegal entry into Guam.

These are the first federal charges to be brought, after months of repeated sightings of foreign nationals coming ashore illegally.

All 16 are charged with conspiracy to transport illegal aliens. The U.S. attorney filed two separate indictments on Oct. 14 identifying the accused as citizens of the people's Republic of China with no valid legal immigration status in the U.S. the indictments allege that the defendants pooled their money to buy two boats to travel to Guam and avoid immigration processes at the airport. Two groups were arrested at the Hagatna boat basin on July 25, and July 31.

Attorney General Leevin Camacho, a member of the governor's task force on illegal immigration, explains that both local and federal prosecutions are underway.

"So we wanted to ensure as a local government we were doing everything we could to show that there will be consequence," he said. The indictments you referenced shows that the federal government can also have its own authority which includes filing charges in Saipan because the folks who have come to Guam in violation of federal law can be prosecuted there. We cannot send people to Saipan to answer to local charges but the federal government has the ability to decide eventually where they'll prosecute and where individuals who violated federal law will answer those charges."

On Guam, a total of nine boat operators have been charged with illegal entry, and some were also indicted by the feds. But the local law does not extend to the passengers.

"And that is the big difference between the federal statute and our local statute," Camacho said.

The U.S. attorney was not available for comment.