Cuban migrant dies after failed smuggling trip
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The Miami Herald is reporting this morning that a Cuban man trying to reach Florida on a speedboat with 32 others died Wednesday from head injuries he might have suffered when suspected smugglers tried to run from federal authorities in rough seas.
The man, whose name has not been released, was declared dead early Wednesday at Opa-locka Airport’s Coast Guard station. He was airlifted to the station after cutters stopped the grossly overloaded 25-foot speedboat south of Key Largo late Tuesday. Miami-Dade Police said he was 35. The Coast Guard also intercepted two smaller speedboats in the vicinity believed to have been involved in the smuggling operation. Federal authorities were holding seven suspected smugglers and 32 passengers in custody Wednesday while they investigate, the Coast Guard said. The government would not say where they are being held. Cubans intercepted at sea are usually returned to Cuba, but in cases where fatalities have occurred some or all in a group can be brought to the United States to serve as witnesses in the criminal investigation.
Read more about the failed immigration trip from Cuba to Florida here.
In July, we reported how many Cubans were trying to get to the United States via Mexico in the face of a U.S. crackdown on illegal immigration in the waters between Cuba and Florida.
For more on Cuba click here, and go here for more about immigration.
-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City