Navy says boat trip was aborted

[NewsWhore]

The chief of the Navy, vice admiral Nicolas Cabrera Arias said that the boat trip at La Vacama in La Altagracia (Punta de Coco) was aborted as a result of an intelligence operation. He said 29 people who had attempted to travel to Puerto Rico were arrested, as reported in Listin Diario. Cabrera Arias said the Navy had tips about illegal boat trips that were planning to leave the area. He said the trip organizers had legal permits to sail in coastal waters, and took advantage of this permit. "If you ask permission to travel from Boca de Yuma to Punta Cana, you have to arrive within a set time," he said. "When they did not show up, we activated the intelligence services and were able to thwart the trip," said the Vice Admiral. He said the Navy arrested 21 people who were on board the frustrated boat trip, most of who were reported to be Haitians. He estimated that there could have been 34 people on board, but that the boat had left empty from Boca de Yuma and picked up the passengers in La Vacama. Cabrera said that when the captain of the boat noticed he was being followed, he drifted the boat towards the shore and fled.

Occupants of the boat said they had paid US$2,000 each for the trip to Pueto Rico. As reported in Listin Diario, Josefa Pie said that two Navy men were present when they left the mooring point. The newspaper reports that the travelers assumed the Navy men were in cahoots with the trip organizers.

www.listindiario.com/la-republica/2012/4/13/228651/Marina-descarta-naufragio-y-alude-a-viaje-ilegal-truncado (http://www.listindiario.com/la-republica/2012/4/13/228651/Marina-descarta-naufragio-y-alude-a-viaje-ilegal-truncado)

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