Two Haitian immigrants were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard after they were thrown overboard by smugglers attempting to avoid capture.
According to a report from the Coast Guard, the rescued pair was among 43 Haitian migrants repatriated Wednesday from two separate incidents.
The Coast Guard cutter Confidence repatriated all 43 migrants to Haiti.
On Friday a group of 19 migrants was detected by a Coast Guard aircraft west of Mona Island, which lies between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Sector San Juan diverted the Coast Guard cutter Key Largo to interdict the migrant vessel and alerted federal law enforcement partner agencies.
Upon Key Largo’s arrival on scene, the smugglers, in an attempt to flee the area and avoid interdiction, allegedly threatened the migrants onboard and forced two of them, one of them a minor, overboard without life jackets. Key Largo’s crew pulled the two Haitians from the water and continued to pursue the suspect vessel.
During the pursuit, a patrolling aircraft from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Air and Marine Operations was able to maintain surveillance of the fleeing vessel until it was relieved by a Coast Guard HC-144 Maritime Patrol aircraft deployed to Puerto Rico from Coast Guard Air Station Miami.
The suspected smugglers were later apprehended by Dominican Republic law enforcement authorities.
"This incident demonstrates just how ruthless smugglers are. They have no regard for human life and are only seeking to profit from this illicit activity,” said Lt. Daniel E. Stepler, Key Largo’s commanding officer.
The other 24 Haitian migrants had been interdicted four days earlier by Coast Guard cutter Drummond approximately 13 miles west of Mona. Two suspected smugglers were apprehended and turned over to law enforcement authorities in Puerto Rico for further investigation.
