| Office of Public Affairs U.S. Coast Guard Seventh District |
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| Press Release |
Date: October 02, 2004 Contact: LTjg Eric Willis |
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SIXTEEN DOMINICAN NATIONALS INTERCEPTED AT SEA ABOARD A STOLEN BOAT SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - While on patrol over the Mona Passage, a Coast Guard HU-25 Falcon jet crew spotted a 30-foot boat, loaded with people, headed east to the coast of Puerto Rico. The Falcon jet crew notified Sector San Juan, which directed the Falcon to track the boat and the Cutter Cushing to intercept. The Falcon continued to circle the scene of the reportedly-stolen boat until they were relieved by an HH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Air Station Borinquen. Cushing, intercepted the stolen boat 18 miles north west of Desechao Island in the Mona Passage. Aboard the boat were 16 Dominican nationals--12 men and four women. All of whom were repatriated to the Dominican Navy vessel Altair this afternoon. At the time of this release, it is unclear as to where in the Dominican Republic the 30-foot fiberglass boat was stolen from. --HU-25 Falcon Jet is based at Air Station Miami and is forward deployed to Air Station Borinquen and Sector San Juan to assist in law enforcement missions. --HH-65 Dolphin helicopter is a based at Air Station Borinquen --CGC Cushing is a 110-foot patrol boat based in San Juan. ### The U.S. Coast Guard is a military, maritime, multi-mission service within the |
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