US Border Patrol agents apprehend undocumented Caribbean migrants in Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico,  CMC – The United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency says Ramey Sector Border Patrol agents in Puerto Rico have apprehended 16 undocumented Caribbean migrants who disembarked from a makeshift wooden vessel near a shopping mall in Hatillo, Puerto Rico. 

According to CBP, the Ramey Station received a report of a possible migrant smuggling incident near Plaza del Norte Mall in the municipality of Hatillo.  

“Border Patrol agents along with personnel from Homeland Security Investigations, Hatillo Municipal Police, and Puerto Rico Police Department officers reached the beach behind the mall area and located an abandoned 30-foot, fiberglass vessel, blue in colour, with two outboard engines beached on the shore,” said CBP in a statement. 

“Our message for anyone who is thinking of entering the United States illegally crossing the Mona Passage is simple: don't do it,” said Desi DeLeon, Chief Patrol Agent for the Ramey Sector.  

“People who venture to cross the sea, boarding a rustic and inadequate boat, endanger not only their lives, but also the lives of law enforcement officials from both countries with the mission of rescuing them.” 

After an extensive search, CBP agents located 16 undocumented migrants, which included 12 adult males from the Dominican Republic, two adult males from Haiti, one adult female from Haiti and one adult female from the Dominican Republic. 

CBP said a Haitian female complaining of dehydration was transported to Camuy Health Services for medical evaluation. 

During this federal fiscal year, CBP said Ramey Sector Border Patrol agents have apprehended 1,329 non-citizens who attempted or entered the US illegally in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. 

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