MIAMI (AP) - The Coast Guard returned nine Haitian migrants to their Caribbean homeland.
According to authorities, the Haitians were aboard a suspicious vessel spotted Jan. 12 east of Port Everglades.
The Coast Guard said Friday that two other people on the boat were suspected of smuggling and brought ashore for further investigation.
The nine Haitians were taken Wednesday to Cap-Haitien in northern Haiti. They received food, water, shelter and medical care while in Coast Guard custody.
Haitians routinely attempt to reach U.S. shores by boat, in spite of warnings from U.S. and Haitian authorities against such risky journeys.
The Coast Guard says it has caught 405 Haitians at sea since the fiscal year began Oct. 1. That’s a sharp increase over the previous fiscal year, when 508 Haitians were intercepted at sea.
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