This content was published on August 25, 2021 – 00:25
Miami, Aug 24 (EFE) .- The United States Border Patrol is keeping a group of at least 42 Haitians in custody this Tuesday who allegedly arrived illegally on a beach on Key Biscayne, an island located in Miami Bay ( southeast Florida), the federal agency reported.
As reported today on Twitter by Thomas G. Martin, head of the US Border Patrol in the Miami sector, “42 Haitian citizens were taken into custody” of Customs and Border Protection (CBP, for its acronym in English) “after the event of this afternoon, “a probable human trafficking case.
The official added that a boat involved in the alleged human trafficking “will be seized” and that “the event is currently under investigation.”
Several local television networks captured from the air the moment when units of the Coast Guard and CBP surrounded a pleasure boat in which the migrants allegedly arrived.
Also the moment when some of them were arrested on a road near Crandon Park beach, located on the tourist islet of Key Biscayne, which also houses a large residential area.
Local 10 News showed three of the men kneeling and handcuffed that officers had tracked down after the illegal landing and then detained on the Crandon Boulevard median.
Witnesses to the landing pointed out to officers in the direction that two other men had fled through a golf course located in the Crandon Park area.
According to this media, the agents received a call around 3:00 p.m. local time on Tuesday about possible migrants who had arrived illegally in this area.
Agents from the United States Border Patrol and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) responded to the call and searched the area until the migrants were located.
Initially, Officer Martin had reported some 23 Haitian detainees, but later updated the figure to 42 in what he called “a maritime smuggling event.”
Haiti suffered an earthquake last week that left at least 2,200 dead, more than 12,000 injured and enormous damage. EFE
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