The US Coast Guard said crews rescued 34 Haitians abandoned by smugglers on a cliff in Puerto Rico on Monday.
USCG Cutter Heriberto Hernandez, a 154-foot vessel homeported in San Juan, responded to reports of a group of people stranded on the uninhabited Monito Cay nature reserve, which lies off Mona Island, Puerto Rico.
Coast Guard watchmen in San Juan initially reported the abandoned group after receiving a communication from the Park Rangers of the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources.
A Coast Guard Ocean Sentry aircraft flew over the area and confirmed seeing multiple campfires, prompting the ship’s response.
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The US Coast Guard rescues 34 Haitians stranded by smugglers in Puerto Rico.
(USCGSSoutheast/Twitter)
Coast Guard Commanding Officer Heriberto Hernandez, Lt. Robert Renfrow, said the crew perfectly executed the high-risk, five-hour water rescue in 10- to 15-foot waves.
“This case is concrete proof that smugglers are more than willing to abandon people in very austere and dangerous environments like Monito,” Renfrow said in a statement.
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A small US Coast Guard boat launched from the cutter Heriberto Hernández rescues migrants abandoned by smugglers.
(US Coast Guard)
To complete the rescue, the cutter Heriberto Hernández launched a small boat to get closer to the cliff while the group of people advanced towards the lowest point. Once the small boat was in position, each person took turns jumping off the cliff into the water, where they were carried to safety.
When the small boat returned to the large boat, the group received food, water, and basic medical care. The survivors, 26 men, seven women and one child, were transferred to US Border Patrol agents in the Ramey sector in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.
The rescue was part of ongoing multi-agency efforts in support of Operation Caribbean Guard and the Caribbean Interagency Border Group.
US Coast Guard Patrolman Heriberto Hernandez looks out over the cliff at Monito Cay, Puerto Rico, where smugglers abandoned Haitian immigrants.
(US Coast Guard)
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Between October 1 and November 30, the Coast Guard allegedly interdicted 11 illegal voyages in the Mona Passage and waters near Puerto Rico carrying a total of 324 non-US citizens. The USCG said 300 of those people were Dominican, 23 were Haitian and one person’s nationality was unknown.
