The US Coast Guard in San Juan reported this Friday that it returned 35 of 39 people from various nationalities that tried to arrive illegally in Puerto Rico between 18 and last Monday.
As detailed by the agency in a press release, 15 Haitians, twelve Uzbeks and eight Dominicans to the Dominican Republic were returned between Tuesday and this Friday, after being detained by the authorities near the Mona Canal, west of Puerto Rico.
The first intervention, on 18, occurred when Coast Guardsman Joseph Tezanos intervened with a vessel of 25 feet (8 meters) in length, after being spotted by a Customs and Border Protection aircraft ( CBP) to 11 nautical miles northwest of Aguadilla (northwest).
They were traveling on that illegal vessel 18 people, twelve Uzbeks and six Dominicans.
Of these 18 undocumented, four were handed over to CBP on Wednesday at his office at Ramey Base in Aguadilla for retrying to enter Puerto Rico.
The second operation occurred last Monday, when Coast Guardsman Donald Horsley intercepted a yawl of 25 feet (8 meters) in length, also sighted by a CBP aircraft approximately ten nautical miles south of Mona Island, an islet between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.
In this ship they tried to arrive illegally in Puerto Rico 21 people, among them, 15 Haitians and six Dominicans.
These interventions were achieved thanks to team efforts between local and federal agencies and the Caribbean Border Interinstitutional Group.
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