SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Doyle repatriated 58 people to the Dominican Republic, Wednesday, following the interdiction of two separate vessels near Puerto Rico.
Four of the interdicted migrants remain in US custody and face possible federal prosecution by the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico on charges of attempting to illegally re‑enter the United States in violation of Title 8, U.S.C., Section 1326, and failure to heave in violation of Title 18, U.S.C., Section 2237.
The first interdiction occurred Monday morning (January 13, 2025) after a Customs and Border Protection Caribbean Air and Marine Branch crew on a routine patrol detected a 25-foot makeshift vessel in waters southwest of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. Sector San Juan watchstanders diverted the Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Tezanos to respond.
Shortly thereafter, Cutter Joseph Tezanos arrived on-scene and deployed the cutter’s Over the Horizon Boat which stopped the compliant suspect vessel. While Cutter Joseph Tezanos was in the process of disembarking the migrants, the cutter boat crew reported that three passengers, who remained aboard the makeshift vessel, re‑energized the vessel engines, and attempted to flee the scene with several migrants who had not yet been disembarked from the vessel. The Coast Guard boat crew reestablished pursuit and successfully stopped the suspect vessel. Following the interdiction, the Cutter Joseph Tezanos crew embarked all 41 migrants (21 claimed to be Dominican Republic nationals and 20 claimed to be Haitian nationals).
The second interdiction occurred Monday afternoon (January 13, 2025) after a Customs and Border Protection Caribbean Air and Marine Branch crew on a routine patrol detected a 30-foot makeshift vessel in waters northwest of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. Sector San Juan watchstanders diverted the Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Tezanos to respond. Shortly thereafter, Cutter Joseph Tezanos arrived on-scene and deployed the cutter’s Over the Horizon Boat to stop the migrant vessel. The migrant vessel operator refused to stop and conducted aggressive evasive maneuvers to flee the area. The Cutter Joseph Tezanos boat crew successfully stopped the suspect vessel. Following the interdiction, the cutter crew embarked 21 migrants (17 claimed to be Dominican Republic nationals and four claimed to be Haitian nationals).
The Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Doyle repatriated the migrants from both cases to San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, Wednesday (January 15, 2025), where they were received by Dominican Republic Navy authorities. Meanwhile, the migrants facing prosecution were transferred to US Ramey Sector Border Patrol and Homeland Security Investigations agents in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.
“Excellent job by the crew and boarding team in the execution of back-to-back interdiction operations with absolute precision and professionalism,” said Lt. Kali Carmine, Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Tezanos commanding officer. “Very proud of my crew in their efforts to safeguard US borders and commitment to enforce maritime laws across several busy days. Their response to the vessels’ erratic maneuvers and failure to-heave-to demonstrated the effectiveness of thorough and regular training.”
“The Coast Guard and our partners in Customs and Border Protection will continue to rigorously patrol the Mona Passage to detect and deter irregular, unlawful migration and save lives. Repeated attempts to make this unlawful journey will subject individuals to possible criminal prosecution, in addition to disqualification from legal immigration pathways,” said Cmdr. Matthew Romano, Sector San Juan chief of response.
The United States Coast Guard, along with its Homeland Security Task Force-Southeast partners, maintains a continual presence with air, land, and sea assets in the Florida Straits, the Windward Passage, the Mona Passage, and the Caribbean Sea in support of Operation Vigilant Sentry. The HSTF-SE combined, multi-layered approach is designed to protect the safety of life at sea while preventing unlawful maritime entry to the United States and its territories.
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