Five J’cans among eight held with ganja off Florida coast

THE UNITED States Coast Guard says it collaborated with the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency last week in interdicting seven Caribbean nationals and a suspected smuggler caught off the coast of Florida.

Five Jamaican migrants were among the passengers detained after 67 packages of marijuana were also found on board the vessel.

“The CBP intercepted an improperly lit 27-foot cabin cruiser approximately seven miles east of Government Cut and discovered five Jamaican adult male migrants, one Bahamian male migrant, one Italian male migrant and one suspected Bahamian smuggler,” the US Coast Guard said in a statement last Friday. “The Coast Guard Cutter Robert

Yered (WPC-1104) crew arrived on scene, embarked the migrants, and transferred them ashore to CBP,”the statement also noted.

“We commend our CBP partners who prevented this illegal voyage from making landfall, as well as their close collaboration with the Robert

Yered crew in safely removing all the migrants from a dangerous situation,” said Petty Officer Emily Wilhite.

“... We will continue to diligently patrol throughout the Caribbean Basin and Florida Straits to stem the flow of maritime smuggling,” she added.