A deadly Cartel Human Smuggling attempt is unfolding off Puerto Rico’s Mona Island after a fight broke out and migrants were severely injured by a machete, forcing them to jump into the water and attempt to swim to Mona Island. No one was wearing life jackets.
After the makeshift smuggling boat capsized, U.S. Coast Guard crews rescued at least 40 people approximately 10 miles off that island on Monday.
Coast Guard & other units that responded to search for survivors:
Sector San Juan
Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Doyle
Air Station Borinquen
Air Station Miami
Puerto Rico Police, Joint Forces Rapid Action
Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations
Dominican Republic Air Force
PR Department of Natural and Environmental Resources Ranger Corps
Although the survivor count and the number of the dead keep changing with each update, as I write this, 49 people have been rescued, 3 recovered deceased, with at least 10 still missing.
The Coast Guard, along with its Operation Vigilant Sentry and Operation Bahamas, Turks and Caicos partners, maintains a continual presence with air, land, and sea assets in the Florida Straits, Windward Passage, Mona Passage, and Caribbean Sea in support of OVS. This multiagency and multilayered approach is designed to protect the safety of life at sea while preventing unlawful maritime entry to the United States and its territories.
This is a busy and dangerous human smuggling corridor, which I most recently wrote about HERE.
Related stories include:
Cartel Human Smugglers Busted
More Chinese men caught in Texas
Cartel human smuggling runs blocked
Are you surprised by the large numbers of migrants the Coast Guard is encountering attempting to illegally enter the US by sea?
Share your opinions in the comments to this article.
