DATE: November 20, 2009 14:14:05 EST

US COAST GUARD
News Release

Date: Nov. 20, 2009

Sector San Juan Public Affairs

Contact: Lt. j.g. Rebecca Deakin

(787) 289-2068

Coast Guard repatriates 12 Dominican migrants to La Romana Dominican Republic

1 other Dominican detained for prosecution

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Key Biscayne repatriated twelve Dominican migrants to La Romana, Dominican Republic Friday, following an at-sea interdiction by Caribbean Border Interagency Group (CBIG) Law Enforcement authorities Thursday.

The crew of the Key Biscayne detained one Dominican man for attempting to enter illegally into the U.S. or a U.S. territory on at least one other separate occasion.  The U.S. Attorney's Office in Puerto Rico accepted the case and is pursuing prosecution.

The crew of a CBP Air and Marine Branch fixed-wing aircraft located a suspicious 15-foot vessel Thursday morning, while patrolling waters about 16 miles north of Mona, Puerto Rico. 

The 13 Dominican migrants were traveling illegally from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico.

The crew of the Key Biscayne located and interdicted the migrant vessel carrying nine men and four women. Once aboard the cutter, the crew of the Key Biscayne collected the migrants biographic information, including digital fingerprints and facial photographs.

The crew of the Key Biscayne repatriated the twelve Dominicans Friday morning, when they turned custody over to Dominican Republic Naval authorities in La Romana, Dominican Republic. The one remaining migrant was turned over to U.S. Border Patrol agents in Añasco, Puerto Rico.

Coast Guard Cutter Key Biscayne is a 110-foot patrol boat home ported in Key West.

The concept of CBIG resulted from a March 2006 collaboration of local Homeland Security components that effectively stemmed the increased flow of traffic across the Mona Passage between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. In July 2006, CBIG was formally created to unify efforts of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Office of Air & Marine (A&M), Office of Field Operations (OFO), and Office of Border Patrol (OBP), the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) the United States Attorney ' s Office, District of Puerto Rico, and Puerto Rico Police Joint Forces of Rapid action (FURA) in their common goal of securing Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands against illegal maritime traffic and gaining control of our nation's Caribbean borders.

 

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