The United States Coast Guard has warned against illegal sea voyages after interdicting two of them in Mona Passage waters near Puerto Rico.
On its official Facebook page last week, the Coast Guard Sector San Juan said it returned eight Dominican, 15 Haitian, and 12 Uzbek nationals between Tuesday and Friday to the Dominican Republic.
According to the Facebook post, four other Dominicans apprehended during the interdictions face federal criminal prosecution in Puerto Rico for attempted illegal re-entry into the United States.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico leads the prosecutions in the case.
“We remain gravely concerned for the safety of people embarking illegal voyages across the Mona Passage and ask they not take to the sea,” said Captain José E. DÃaz, acting commander of Coast Guard Sector San Juan.
“The dangers are quite evident,” DÃaz explained.
The U.S. Coast Guard official observed that each illegal voyage is a mass rescue case ‘waiting to happen.’
“Your life will be in danger,” he warned.
DÃaz noted that the voyages most often take place aboard grossly overloaded and unseaworthy makeshift vessels that are highly unstable, continuously are taking on water, and have little or no adequate life-saving equipment.
