Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents detained 18 undocumented immigrants, 15 of them Dominicans, in various operations conducted in the Puerto Rican municipalities of Aguadilla and Isabela, the US federal agency reported via a statement Monday.
The arrests were made in separate events recorded Sunday involving border guard agents from the Ramey sector.
The statement highlights that CBP agents also assisted Puerto Rico Police (PRPD) in the seizure of 1,940 kilograms of cocaine and the arrest of two suspected smugglers near Yabucoa, a municipality in the east of the island.
On March 7, CBP agents at the Ramey station responded to a message from Puerto Rico police near Playa El Cocal, in Yabucoa, on the east coast, where they discovered a boat with three 250 outboard motors. Pk.
62 contraband bundles were found in the boat, along with a firearm.
An extensive search resulted in the arrest of two foreigners, one claimed to be a Venezuelan citizen and the other from the Dominican Republic.
The subjects and the contraband were handed over to the federal authorities for an in-depth investigation.
In Isabela, Ramey Border Patrol agents discovered a smuggling ship off the coast, for which they detained 14 foreigners (all adults) after landing on Pozo Brujo beach.
All detainees claimed to be of Dominican Republic nationality.
In Aguadilla, agents also arrested 2 illegal aliens, a Haitian and an unaccompanied minor from the Dominican Republic, near Surfer Beach.
All aliens were transported to the Ramey Border Patrol Station for deportation processing.
Ramey’s is the only Border Patrol Sector located outside the continental United States.
The entire boundary area of the Sector is made up of coasts, and the area of responsibility consists of approximately 6,000 square miles of land and water, including the twelve-mile stretch of territorial water that surrounds Puerto Rico and the US. Virgin Islands.