Vessel Smuggling 13 Undocumented Migrants Intercepted Off Florida’s Coast

Photo of the intercepted vessel. Photo by U.S. Customs and Border Protection

If you want to come to the United States, doing so illegally can result in being arrested by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB). Over a dozen people, including undocumented migrants and smugglers, learned this the hard way earlier this November when they tried to enter the country illegally off of Florida’s southern coast.

The official website for the CPB released on November 22 that its Air and Marine Operations Marine Interdiction agents intercepted a vessel at around 8:40 p.m. on November 15. It was a “25-foot white twin-engine cuddy cabin” that was “navigating without lights’ and “failed to comply with agent’s orders to stop”. 

A chase ensued, but agents eventually stopped the vessel and secured it. Upon boarding, they found a total of 13 undocumented migrants, all Chinese nationals. One was a minor, nine were men, and three were women. There were also two smugglers on board.

All 15 people were detained. The agents reported that no one was injured in the process.
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Article by Ema Tibbetts