Cuban Migrant Landings Continue In Park

Early on March 13th, rangers were notified that the US Coast Guard had received a report of migrants landing on Cape Sable. A ranger on the water and a Coast Guard helicopter soon confirmed that 26 migrants were on East Cape. Responding rangers also noticed a suspicious vessel being pulled from the Flamingo Bay Marina at the time of the report. They detained the two people onboard after determining that neither one was the owner of the vessel and that their explanations of their activities conflicted. Eight rangers in four patrol vessels responded to East Cape and picked up the migrants. There were nine men, eleven women and six children, ranging in ages from two to thirteen years old. The migrants claimed that they came over in an 18-foot plywood boat with a Russian-made engine that they sank off the Capes, then swam to shore. Investigation showed no signs of  a sunken vessel or debris. The migrants were transported to Flamingo, where Border Patrol officers took custody of them and the two suspects. Recent intelligence reports indicate that this section of the park may see an increase in human smuggling activity as anti-smuggling operations have increased in other areas of Florida. A similar event occurred last June. The case remains open, with the Border Patrol investigating.