MIAMI, CMC – A high-ranking United States military official claims that Haitian family members in South Florida are possibly behind a “dangerous new trend” in the smuggling of undocumented Haitian immigrants from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico.
“The new thing that’s happening is in the Mona Passage between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, and it’s being fueled, we think, by money from relatives probably, almost assuredly, up here in South Florida,” Rear Admiral William D. Baumgartner, commander of the Seventh US Coast Guard District in Miami, told reporters here.
“In February, they started smuggling Haitians,” he said, adding that the [migrant smugglers] are charging US$1,500 to US$2,000 a person, again probably being paid for by relatives up here.”