Family members in South Florida are possibly behind a dangerous new trend in the Caribbean: the smuggling of undocumented Haitian immigrants from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico, a senior Coast Guard official said Wednesday.
“The new thing that’s happening is in the Mona Passage between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico and it’s being fueled, we think, by money from relatives probably, almost assuredly up here in South Florida,” said Rear Adm. William D. Baumgartner, commander of the Seventh U.S. Coast Guard District in Miami.
“In February they started smuggling Haitians and the [migrant smugglers] are charging $1,500 to $2,000 a person, again probably being paid for by relatives up here.” Read more here:
