The Marine Branch of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force successfully intercepted two illegal sloops within the last 24 hours.
In the first incident, at around 2:25 a.m. yesterday (January 12), the Maritime Operations Center tracked a suspicious target in the Bird Rock, Long Bay area.
Officers of the Marine Branch were informed, and at 2:35 a.m., they spotted a dark blue wooden vessel with two outboard engines carrying several individuals.
The illegal sloop was intercepted, and officers discovered TWENTY-SEVEN (27) illegal migrants– TWENTY-ONE (21) males, including two minors and SIX (6) females.
All individuals were handed over to the TCI Border Force for processing.
Shortly after 1 a.m. today, the Marine Branch, alongside the TCI Regiment, received information that a blue 38-foot wooden Haitian vessel with two outboard engines was in TCI waters.
The vessel was located and intercepted.
Onboard the vessel was ONE HUNDRED and TWENTY-ONE (121) persons – ONE HUNDRED and FOUR (104) males –including a minor and SEVENTEEN (17) females.
Assistant Commissioner (ag) Mat Newton said, “I am grateful to our partners—TCI Border Force and TCI Regiment—for their assistance and support in successfully processing the illegal migrants intercepted by the police. This shows that the layers of security in place are increasingly effective, and we continue to build our defensive measures to tackle this type of crime.”
The RTCIPF asks the public to notify the closest police station, contact 911, the Serious Crime Unit at 231-1842, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-8477, and anonymously give any information on illegal activity.
Additionally, persons are encouraged to download the CrimeStoppers P3 app and share information anonymously.