Navy arrests more than 3,000 foreigners trying to go to Puerto Rico in yolas (open boats)

Three thousand Haitians and 206 other foreigners were captured by the Dominican Republic Navy in a year and ten months, trying to reach Puerto Rico clandestinely in fragile boats departing from different parts of the country.

And among the foreigners arrested are 3,071 Haitian nationals, 45 Uzbeks, 37 Cubans, 26 Brazilians, 20 Russians, and seven Albanians, who arrived in the Dominican Republic as tourists by air, staying in different parts of the national territory, according to the reports.

Officers of the M-2 Naval Intelligence Directorate, responsible for coordinating and executing operations against illegal trips to Puerto Rico, established that the organizers charge sums ranging from five to eight thousand dollars for each foreigner.

It was said that many of the Haitian nationals detained trying to travel to Puerto Rico in yolas were residing illegally in the country. Others fled due to the political and social instability that the neighboring nation was experiencing.

All foreigners detained by the Dominican Navy trying to travel illegally to Puerto Rico are immediately handed over to the Immigration authorities, an agency responsible for repatriating them to their respective countries.

Most of the arrests of undocumented were made by M-2 agents in the eastern part of the country, especially in Punta Cana, La Altagracia province, Miches, Sabana de la Mar, Hato Mayor, La Romana, and San Pedro de Macorís.

Statistical reports provided by the institution through its Department of Communication and Public Relations also indicate that in the period from August 16, 2020, to date, the Navy submitted to justice the number of 240 traffickers of illegals and captains of yolas, a large percentage of them serving sentences from one to 10 years in prison, in different jails in the country.