Human smuggling attempt foiled at the Caribbean Sea
A total of 15 individuals traversing the Caribbean Sea were apprehended and repatriated following suspicions that the group is part of an attempt to smuggle migrants into US borders.
In an article by The New York Carib News, the United States Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Caribbean Air and Marine Branch (CAMB) disrupted the human smuggling attempt in the Caribbean Sea near Puerto Rico.
The CBP worked together with the US federal and local law enforcement in carrying out the operation.
The crew “maintained surveillance and vectored in two Puerto Rico Police Department (PRPD) Marine Unit (FURA) crews to interdict” a suspicious single-engine, yola-type vessel that was detected by a Caribbean-based DHC-8 aircrew on recent patrol. It was operating without navigational lights off the coast of Puerto Rico.
Local marine authorities apprehended the 15 individuals, and “were provided lifejackets, food, water, shelter and basic medical attention,” according to the CBP. Their vessel was seized, and the individuals were repatriated to a Dominican Republic Navy vessel.
“Air and marine operations safeguard our nation by anticipating and confronting security threats through our aviation and maritime law enforcement expertise, innovative capabilities, and partnerships at the border and beyond,” said the CBP.
According to the International Organization For Migration, the recent estimated revenue for human smuggling of migrants from Latin America and the Caribbean to the United States reaches almost 7,000 million USD per year. In the region, for organized crime groups, smuggling people across borders is normally a “low-risk, high-profit” business.
Fight against drug cartel continues
Meanwhile, earlier this month, the CBP also interdicted seven suspected drug smuggling vessels in the past two weeks near Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico in the Eastern Caribbean.
A total of 19 suspected drug smugglers were arrested. The operation resulted in the confiscation of more than 3,700 pounds of cocaine, worth more than $64 million.
On April 1, U.S. Southern Command began an enhanced counter-narcotics operations in the Western Hemisphere to disrupt the flow of drugs.