Florida cops bust luxury yacht full of Haitian migrants

US News

By Jennie Taer

Florida cops stopped a luxury yacht in the Florida Keys, which turned out to be smuggling 30 Haitian migrants into the US.

Officers intercepted the yacht, operated by two smugglers, in an area of Key Biscayne off the south coast of Miami on Friday, detective Argemis Colome told the Miami Herald.

Migrants were seen in a photo posted on social media by Customs and Border Protection crammed into a room below deck on the 60-foot pleasure boat.

The Coast Guard continues returning migrants who travel via sea and is expected to return the latest group to Haiti.

One of the two smugglers was handed over to Homeland Security Investigations, according to the Miami Herald.

In March, Border Patrol agents in Miami were warned of the potential of Haitian migrants making the dangerous journey to Florida’s shores in response to a mass gang takeover of the Caribbean nation, according to an internal email previously obtained by The Post.

“One landing will cripple the station and our ability to respond to other traffic,” the email to agents read.

Federal authorities are keeping a close eye on the situation as they plan to be ready for possible waves of Haitian migrants fleeing violence and uncertainty in the politically unstable nation.

Notorious Haitian warlord Jimmy “Barbeque” Cherizier, 47 — currently the most powerful man in the country — was heard on social media messages on Sunday encouraging his soldiers to “burn every house you find.”

Gunfights continue in the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince, and gang members looted the State University of Haiti’s medical facility, local Radio RFM reports.

“DHS is monitoring the situation in Haiti and coordinating closely with the State Department and international partners.

“All irregular migration journeys, especially maritime routes, are extremely dangerous, unforgiving, and often result in loss of life.

“US policy is to return noncitizens who do not establish a legal basis to remain in the United States,” a DHS spokesperson recently told The Post. 

The Biden administration also sent its first deportation flight to Haiti since January 2023 last week,  according to Witness at the Border, which tracks deportation flights.

Many gangs in Haiti have coalesced under the name “Viv Ansanm,” or “living together,” to describe their takeover of the capital.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigned March 11, but the country has yet to install any temporary government to replace him.

An estimated 360,000 people are displaced in Haiti due to the gang takeover, according to Reuters.