Seventh Coast Guard District Public Affairs Office
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| Press Release | Date: April 20, 2006 Contact: Ricardo Castrodad Sector San Juan Public Affairs Specialist (787) 510-7923 |
Coast Guard interdicts 106 Dominican migrants at sea |
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The U.S. Coast Guard interdicted, between Wednesday evening and today, two migrant yolas transiting illegally to Puerto Rico from the Dominican Republic. INTERDICTION OF 61 DOMINICAN MIGRANTS 20 APRIL: The most recent case occurred today when a U.S. Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Air Station Borinquen, Puerto Rico located a 30-foot yola with 35 male and 26 female Dominican migrants, approximately 12 nautical miles southwest of Mona Island, Puerto Rico. The U.S. Coast Guard Key Largo arrived on scene and safely embarked all 61 Dominican migrants to the cutter. During the migrant transfer, an HH-65 Dolphin helicopter flew rescue support overhead for the Key Largo. The crew of the Key Largo destroyed the yola as a hazard to navigation, and transferred the 61 Dominican migrants to the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Cushing near the Mayaguez Bay. The Cushing will conduct the repatriation of the migrants pier side La Romana, Dominican Republic today. INTERDICTION 19 APRIL AND REPATRIATION OF 45 DOMINICAN MIGRANTS 20 APRIL: The U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Juan Command Center received an initial report at 7:46 p.m. Wednesday of a migrant yola from the Caribbean Air Marine Operations Center. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection C-12 fixed-wing aircraft sighted a 30-foot yola with 37 male and 8 female Dominican migrants on board, approximately 36 nautical miles north of Desecheo Island, Puerto Rico. U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Matinicus was immediately diverted to the scene where they safely embarked the migrants, and destroyed the yola as a hazard to navigation. The Matinicus repatriated at 10 a.m. today all 45 migrants pier side to La Romana, Dominican Republic. Since Oct. 2005 approximately 2,274 Dominican migrants have been interdicted at sea in the Mona Passage by U.S. Department of Homeland Security agencies (U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and Puerto Rico Police Forces United for Rapid Action. Cutter's Key Largo, Cushing and Matinicus are 110-foot patrol boats home ported in Sector San Juan, Puerto Rico. ### |
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