AGUADILLA, Puerto Rico – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Border Patrol Agents, along with Operation Stonegarden partner law enforcement agencies, apprehended 11 undocumented migrants from India and Dominican Republic that made landfall Wednesday in the islands’ western coast.
At approximately 7:15 AM, the Ramey Border Patrol station received a call from a concerned citizen indicating a possible maritime smuggling landing between areas of Rincon and Aguada, Puerto Rico.
coast of Puerto Rico
“Migrants that make an extremely long travel from India should be aware of the perils of coming all the way to the Caribbean to enter the United States,” stated Ramiro Cerrillo, Ramey Sector Chief Patrol Agent for the Ramey Sector in Aguadilla. “Crossing the Mona Passage is a treacherous voyage filled with many dangers that pose a huge risk to migrants,”
Border Patrol agents along with officers from the Puerto Rico Police Department Joint Forces for Rapid Action (FURA, for its Spanish acronym) and Park Rangers of the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources (DRNA), discovered a homemade “yola” type vessel on the shoreline in the Carrizales Ward of Aguada, where an extensive search ensued.
Agents apprehended eleven undocumented migrants, 8 men claiming to be from India and 3 from the Dominican Republic (2 men and 1 female).
The undocumented aliens were transported to the Ramey Border Patrol station for further investigation and processing.
On Sept. 29, Border Patrol Agents apprehended 20 migrants, 13 claiming to be citizens of the Dominican Republic (12 males and 1 female) and 7 claiming to be Indian nationals (6 males and 1 female).
On Feb. 1, Border Patrol Agents apprehended 4 undocumented migrants from Pakistan and India wandering in the western side of the island. On Oct. 2015, Border Patrol also apprehended 13 undocumented migrants from India.
The Operation Stonegarden Grant Program (OPSG) is designed to enhance cooperation and coordination from the U.S. Border Patrol with local, tribal, territorial, state and federal law enforcement agencies in a joint mission to secure the border.
OPSG funds were allocated based on risk-based prioritization using a CBP Border Patrol Sector-specific border risk methodology. Factors considered included, but were not limited to, threat, vulnerability, miles of border, and other border-specific “law enforcement intelligence,” as well as feasibility of FY 2016 Operation Orders to designated localities within the United States Border States and its territories.