Human Smuggling operation turned deadly

The Virgin Islands Consortium is reporting that two people are dead while 16 others were rescued on a smuggling trip from St. Martin with Immigrants who were attempting Illegal entry into the U.S. Virgin Islands.

THE 18 Immigrants were spotted by a St. Johns resident who made a 911 call to the authorities to report Immigrants coming ashore on Haulover Bay on St. Johns just after 4 AM Sunday morning. When police responded to the emergency call they round up the illegals, and while investigating they found out one man was dead from drowning and a woman listed as missing. Her body was later found Sunday afternoon.

The 18 immigrants which includes one child were of different nationalities; two were said to be Iranians one Guyanese and 15 were Venezuelans.  Police Commissioner Ray Martinez confirmed that the vessel may have dropped off its cargo some distance off shore and they were left to swim to safety while the vessel left the scene. The illegals were transported by Law Enforcement to St Thomas where they will be processed by Customs & Border Protection.

While here on St. Martin we have little or no record of who is living legally or illegally on the Island, its difficult to tell who these people are and where exactly they were living on the island before taking the deadly voyage, in search for a better place.

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