Hundreds of illegal immigrants were deported to Cuba after four vessels were intercepted off the Florida Keys, according to US Coast Guard authorities.
According to the US Coast Guard 7th District on Sunday, residents began seeing boats carrying 45 Cubans late Wednesday around 12 miles south of Boot Key.
On Friday, the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Charles Sexton seized three additional primitive watercraft carrying more people destined for the United States, including one about 17 miles south of Long Key.
The migrants were tightly crowded aboard small wooden boats, including one that seemed to be badly torn, according to photos supplied by the Coast Guard on Sunday.
In a statement, Lt. Cmdr. Mark Cobb of the Coast Guard’s Seventh District said, “The possibility of being stopped by Coast Guard crews while illegally migrating through the Caribbean Sea is high. No one should risk their lives on unsafe rustic vessels in unpredictable seas.”
The four interdictions off the Florida Keys came only days after the Coast Guard returned 52 individuals to Cuba on Tuesday after stopping them in four boats and one inflatable craft south of Key West and other regions.
Since October, Coast Guard personnel have detained 2,464 Cubans, the greatest migrant outflow since 2016 – when over 5,400 Cubans were detained while attempting to enter the US illegally, according to statistics.
