Coast Guard intercepts boat with 37 Cubans in Florida Straits
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ A tugboat overloaded with 37 Cubans onboard that officials say was on its way to Florida was intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard and its occupants were taken back to Cuba on Sunday.
Earlier, the agency received a report that a possible "migrant vessel" was about 23 miles north of Havana and was heading north, officials said.
The Coast Guard Cutter Charles Sexton was diverted to the scene and found the boat that was carrying 29 Cuban males and eight females.
The agency provided food, water and medical attention to the migrants. One person was treated for chest pains at a hospital, according to the Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard Cutter William Trump repatriated the group to Cabanas, Cuba.
More than two dozen Cuban migrants arrive in South Florida in makeshift wooden boat
"Many times these vessels we interdicted are overloaded and unsafe, and the risk simply isn't worth the possible reward," said Lt. Commander James Hodges, a Coast Guard 7th District law enforcement duty officer. The William Trump and Charles Sexton are 154-foot cutters based in Key West. "The combined efforts of the Charles Sexton and William Trump cutter crews led to this successful rescue mission, and I'm proud of everyone involved," he added.
Since Oct. 1, about 82 Cuban migrants have tried to illegally migrate to the United States through the Florida Straits, the Caribbean and the Atlantic, according to the Coast Guard.
_Sun Sentinel
