A group of 15 Dominican citizens were repatriated to their country after being intercepted in the territory of Puerto Rico, as reported on Wednesday in a statement by US federal authorities on the Caribbean island.
The statement details that the operation was carried out on December 10 and that it skips the repatriation of 15 people of Dominican nationality.
The arrest was made by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents, after detecting a suspicious “yola” craft vessel sailing unveiled off the coast of Puerto Rico.
A CBP vessel, with the support of Marine Unit (FURA) teams from the Puerto Rico Police Department, intercepted the suspicious vote.
Federal authorities destroyed 15 people and confiscated the boat.
The detainees were handed over to the U.S. Coast Guard, who provided the 15 people with basic medical care.
The immigrants were later handed over to a Navy ship in the Dominican Republic.
The statement recalled that in recent times the number of people trying to enter Puerto Rico from the island of La Española has increased, despite the graves it enters.
In fiscal year 2020, federal authorities seized in the Caribbean area about 87 tons of cocaine, 126 tons of marijuana, 952 weapons and carried out the arrest of 47,872 illegal aliens.
Federal authorities insist on deterring those trying to enter American territory through Puerto Rico, a trend that continues to increase despite the covid-19 pandemic and strong currents in the Mona Canal, the maritime strip that separates the Commonwealth from the island of La Española.