MIAMI, United States.- Four Cuban rafters are in the custody of the authorities, after arriving in the Florida Keys this Sunday, according to the United States Border Patrol in the Miami sector.
According to a note from the news network Telemundo 51, the authorities are trying to determine if it is a case of human trafficking. Last Friday, another fourteen Cuban rafters reached the shores of Miami Beach.
That same day, the United States Coast Guard repatriated to Cuba 86 rafters who were intercepted in seven operatives different between May 7 and 11 near the Florida Keys.
Seven interceptions in five days
According to a statement from the US agency, on May 7, Coast Guard agents covering the Key West sector intercepted three different boats with Cuban rafters on board.
They were first alerted to a rustic boat about 30 miles south of Islamorada. Hours later, of the presence of another raft about eight miles south of Plantation Key. And then from a homemade boat seen approximately 10 miles south of Key West.
On Sunday, May 8, they found another group of Cuban rafters about 35 miles southeast of Caesar’s Creek, Key Largo. The following Monday they intercepted a rustic boat about 25 miles south of Key West. On Tuesday they rescued another group of illegal migrants who were about 40 miles south of Long Key; and on Wednesday they were notified of a new rustic boat that was about nine miles south of Woman Key.
high figures
Since fiscal year 2022 began on October 1, the Coast Guard has intercepted 1,689 Cubans, double the figures for 2021 and the second highest since 2016.
These are the figures of the interceptions of Cubans on the coast in the last six years, according to the Coast Guard:
- 5,396 Cubans in 2016
- 1,468 Cubans in 2017
- 259 Cubans in 2018
- 313 Cubans in 2019
- 49 Cubans in 2020
- 838 Cubans in 2021
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