28465: Hermantin( News)7 Haitian migrants nabbed near Jupiter after swimming ashore fr (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

7 Haitian migrants nabbed near Jupiter after swimming ashore from smuggler's 
boat




By JEROME BURDI
sun-sentinel.com

June 16, 2006, 10:55 AM EDT



JUPITER ISLAND – Seven illegal Haitian migrants were rounded up Friday morning 
shortly after they swam ashore from a smuggling boat, deputies said.

As the Coast Guard and other authorities searched for the smuggling boat, Palm 
Beach Sheriff's Office deputies and Jupiter Island Police continued to search 
for three more migrants who eluded them.

The captured Haitians said they paid $5,000 to $7,000 each for the trip. They 
said they left their homeland from Port-de-Paix four days ago aboard a 25-foot 
boat powered by twin outboard engines and steered alternately by a captain and 
two crewmen.

The group went into the surf off Jupiter Island and had to swim to shore, a 
task that took five to 10 minutes, they said.

Around 7:30 a.m., someone noticed the ragged group making its way along the 
19700 block of A1A just north of the Jupiter Lighthouse and called police.

Four males and three females were quickly detained and a search launched for 
the missing three migrants. Each person detained will be questioned by the 
Border Patrol and at some point probably be returned to their homeland.
Copyright © 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel