LIMA, Peru – Eight Cuban migrants remain missing in the waters of the Mexican Caribbean after losing contact with the precarious boat in which they were trying to reach Mexico, local media reported. Caribbean News citing an official note from the Secretary of the Navy.
According to the CPIM statement 028-2026, the alert was activated after the disappearance of the ship was reported, which had set sail from Cuba in inadequate conditions.
Search operations are concentrated in the maritime area near the state of Quintana Roo, particularly in the Banco Chinchorro area.
The Navy deployed surface units, aircraft and specialized personnel, and noted that patrols will continue in coordination with local and federal authorities to expand the tracking radius.
According to reports spread on social networks that cite port authorities, the group would be made up of four men and four women who had left the Island approximately a week ago.
The Mexican authorities reiterated the call to avoid crossings in improvised boats due to the risks posed by the maritime and meteorological conditions in the region.
Latest incidents with rafters in Grand Cayman
Six Cubans arrived last Monday in Grand Cayman after being rescued at sea by a ship that passed through the area and left them on the island, reported the immigration authorities of the Caribbean country.
The six rafters remained in the custody of Customs and Border Control (CBC) and are “being processed” in accordance with local legislation and the territory’s international obligations, according to an official statement from the Caymanian Government.
Cayman News Service (CNS) reported that, while the CBC “prepares” for an eventual uptick in the arrival of Cuban rafters to the country, given the serious crisis in the largest of the Antilles, the group of six Cubans joins another that had already been retained by the institution.
Three days before, on Friday, February 13, the CBC repatriated nine migrants to Havana on a regular Cayman Airways flight, according to the Government itself. With this operation, the total number of repatriates to Cuba since the beginning of 2026 rose to 13, and the Executive indicated that, after these departures, 23 irregular migrants remained in the custody of the CBC.
In addition, CNS He stressed that the continuity of the accelerated repatriation program could be conditioned by the fuel crisis in Cuba. The media explained that it consulted the CBC about whether the rapid return scheme would be maintained after Cayman Airways warned that it could suspend flights to Havana due to lack of fuel, but, according to CNS, the CBC authorities declined to respond.
