COCKBURN TOWN — A string of migrant landings over the past four days in the sun-swept Turks and Caicos Islands is bringing more than just undocumented Haitians to the British overseas territory less than 500 miles from Miami.
Police in the Turks and Caicos say that along with detaining 217 undocumented migrants in five separate landings since Friday, they’ve also seized more than $2 million in marijuana. The marijuana was discovered following two separate interceptions of undocumented migrants coming from the northern coast of Haiti on Friday and Saturday.
Haiti’s southern coast, because of its proximity to Jamaica, is a popular route in which guns are traded for marijuana and is known as “the guns for ganja” network. But it’s highly unusual for cannabis to be coming out of the northern coast, raising questions about its origin and transportation.
Turks and Caicos police say they are investigating both the seizures and the landings.
The first bust occurred on Friday when a team of officers responded to an illegal landing around 11:40 p.m. at Bird Rock on the island of Providenciales; 15 migrants were aboard the boat, along with marijuana with a street value of $131, 660.
The following day, officers discovered two more illegal vessels ferrying undocumented migrants when the marine unit of the Royal Turks and Caicos Police responded to a call at 5 p.m. Saturday in Jones Cay. Officers detained 41 migrants including three minors, six women and 32 men onboard the boats along with marijuana. The drugs have an estimated street value of $2,704,932.
“The trafficking of illicit contraband, such as cannabis, into the Turks and Caicos Islands is an offense with serious penalties,” Royal Turks and Caicos Police Commissioner Edvin Martin said. The police and law enforcement partners, he added, “are resolute in finding the people involved in the smuggling of people and trafficking of illegal drugs and will pursue all leads to bring them to justice.”
On Sunday, a fourth vessel ferrying undocumented migrants was intercepted at approximately 10:17 p.m. by officers from the marine unit of the police with assistance from the Royal Bahamas Defense Force.
The boat was intercepted near the island of West Caicos. The vessel was escorted to Providenciales, and 144 migrants onboard were handed over to the Border Force for processing. Among the migrants were 111 men, 32 women and five minors. All have been detained and will be repatriated to Haiti.
Around 4:50 a.m. Sunday officers were back out again to respond to a fifth landing, near Long Bay in Providenciales. The vessel was carrying 17 migrants.
By JACQUELINE CHARLES/Miami Herald
Jacqueline Charles has reported on Haiti and the English-speaking Caribbean for the Miami Herald for over a decade. A Pulitzer Prize finalist for her coverage of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, she was awarded a 2018 Maria Moors Cabot Prize — the most prestigious award for coverage of the Americas