Agents stop boat off Miami smuggling 24 migrants from many nations, feds say
Federal agents intercepted a boat that was smuggling 24 people from various nations early Sunday morning off Miami, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
A Customs Air and Marine Operations boat crew stopped the 28-foot center-console vessel around 12:30 a.m. about five nautical miles from Miami, the agency said in a social-media post.
Along with the boat operator, whom Customs called “a suspected smuggler,” an additional 24 people were on board and were not authorized to enter the U.S., according to the post. The agency did not say where the boat came from.
The migrants came from several countries, including Haiti, Romania, Colombia, the Bahamas, Moldova and Jamaica, Customs said.
A criminal complaint about the incident had not been filed in federal court as of Wednesday.
The passengers on the boat were transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Winslow Greisser to be processed for removal from the country, according to the Customs post.
