MONROE COUNTY (CBSMiami) – U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents responded to a human smuggling incident involving a large group of Haitian migrants in Monroe County.
According to CBP officials, the migrants were near the vicinity of Cudjoe Key, near mile marker 26, about 20 miles away from Key West.
(Courtesy: Monroe County Sheriff’s Office)
Officials say there were approximately 150 migrants on the vessel, some of them, made landfall on Summerland Key.
(Source: Monroe Co. Sheriff’s Office)
Border Patrol officials said it was a suspected human smuggling operation. It’s not known if a smuggler is in custody.
CBP spokesman Adam Hoffner told CBS4’s Peter D’Oench that this is “an ongoing investigation.”
The March 7 grounding took place not far from where another boat carrying 176 Haitians was stopped in January.
Border Patrol officials said it was a suspected human smuggling operation.
The March 7 grounding took place not far from where another boat carrying 176 Haitians was stopped in January.
Then on Feb. 28, crews spotted a Haitian sailboat with 179 people aboard 30 miles off Andros Island, Bahamas.
On March 4, the Coast Guard stopped another Haitian sail vessel with 123 people, including 39 minors about 10 miles from Anguilla Cay, Bahamas.
There has been a surge in Haitians being stopped at sea in recent months by the U.S. Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard says since October 1, 1,152 Haitian migrants have been rescued at sea compared with 1,527 in all of the 2021 fiscal year and 418 in the 2020 fiscal year.
Migrants trying to enter the U.S. illegally are usually repatriated.
Activists say conditions contributing to the exodus of Haitians include conditions after the president’s assassination, continuing economic problems and rising gang violence.