AGUADILLA, Puerto Rico –U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Border Patrol Agents apprehended Sunday afternoon 70 undocumented Haitian migrants that landed Saturday evening in Mona Island.

Border Patrol Ramey Sector Communications received a call from the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) who reported that a large group of suspected Haitians had landed near Uvero Beach in Mona Island, a U.S. territory located 38 miles west of Puerto Rico

The group was comprised of 70 undocumented Haitians, 46 adult males and 24 females; of which 3 were minors and one pregnant female.  All migrants were found in good health.

US Coast Guard cutter Drummond transported the group to the Mayaguez Port where CBP Border Patrol Agents assumed custody for immigration processing.   

“Smugglers leave migrants stranded in Mona making them believe that they safely have reached Puerto Rico,” said Ramiro Cerrillo, Chief Patrol Agent for the CBP Ramey Border Patrol Sector.  “Migrants should not be fooled by false promises made by smugglers.”

After processing Border Patrol Agents transferred custody to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement Removal Operations for expedited removal of the migrants. 

An Oct. 16 operation by Caribbean Border Interagency Group (CBIG) led to the rescue and apprehension of 32 Haitians that landed in Monito Island as Hurricane Gonzalo was lurking the region. 

The illegal maritime smuggling ventures arriving to Puerto Rico from the Dominican Republic are ordinarily transported in rustic, homemade wooden vessels commonly referred to as "yolas." A typical “yola” is an unsafe vessel, generally underpowered with a single outboard motor, and overloaded with a large number of passengers and without life vests. Every year CBP receives both confirmed and unconfirmed reports of aliens drowning while in transit to United States territory.

Eighty miles separate the Dominican Republic from Puerto Rico. At the approximate mid-point lies the island of Mona, an uninhabited island that is a United States territory.  

Migrant smugglers in the Dominican Republic strategically navigate to and use Mona Island as a drop off point for migrants who must then be recovered from Mona and transported to Puerto Rico by CBP or USCG air or marine assets.

The Caribbean Border Interagency Group (CBIG) was formally created to unify efforts of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Coast Guard, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Puerto Rico, and Puerto Rico Police Joint Rapid Action Forces (FURA, for its Spanish acronym), in their common goal of securing the Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands borders against illegal migrant and drug smuggling.

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