Dominican Navy arrests 12 Uzbek boatpeople

Santo Domingo.- The Navy of the Dominican Republic (ARD) reported this Thursday that it arrested 115 people when they tried to leave illegally through different parts of the country to Puerto Rico.

The group was distributed among 90 Dominicans, 12 Haitians and 12 citizens of Uzbekistan, a country in Central Asia that belonged to the former Soviet Union.

The detainees left from the beaches of La Lavacama, Bávaro and Dominicus, La Altagracia province, as well as in the Naranjo area, Los Haitises, according to a press release from the institution.

“63 people, 40 men and 23 women, were arrested in the area of El Naranjo de los Haitises, where a clandestinely manufactured boat approximately 40 feet long with 2 outboard motors of 50 and 40 HP and 7 jugs of fuel, who tried to travel illegally to Puerto Rico.”