26644: Hermantin(News)4 Haitian migrants detained (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>


POMPANO BEACH
4 Haitian migrants detained
Authorities captured four Haitian migrants walking along the beach in Pompano 
Beach on Friday.
By WANDA J. DEMARZO
wdemarzo@herald.com

Four Haitian migrants came ashore in Pompano Beach Friday morning and were 
taken into custody, according to the Broward Sheriff's Office and the U.S. 
Border Patrol.

The four captured men are being held by the Border Patrol, said Border Patrol 
Assistant Chief Steve McDonald.

''It appears that two of the migrants absconded,'' McDonald said. ``At this 
point, we can't really say if this is connected to the smuggling operation from 
two weeks ago but there are indicators they could be connected. It's in the 
same area.''

WET MEN STOPPED

A Pompano Beach police sergeant spotted four soaking wet men walking on the 
beach around 3 a.m. Friday and stopped to speak with them.

The men, who were in the 1200 block of South Ocean Drive, told the Broward 
Sheriff's Office deputy that they were from Haiti and that a total of six 
people had come ashore. The sergeant detained the four men and contacted the 
U.S. Border Patrol.

While deputies searched for any other migrants that might be in the area, they 
found six life vests and some women's clothing, said BSO spokesman Hugh Graf.

Graf said the four men were in good health and were not injured.

The location where the men were picked up is in the same vicinity where 
deputies found the bodies of three Haitian women who washed ashore Nov. 5, 
authorities said.

8 ARE ELUSIVE

That day, deputies took four migrants into custody. A fifth man was taken to 
Broward General Medical Center with injuries to his head, possibly caused by a 
boat propeller. Another eight migrants remain at large.

Authorities believe that the group that came ashore Nov. 5 were believed to 
have been smuggled to the U.S. on a 19-foot sailboat that sailed from the 
Bahamas.