Human Smuggling On The Rise - 16 Illegals Caught in Eleuthera

Police and immigration officials responding to a tip on Wednesday May 21, apprehended 16 illegal immigrants from The Dominican Republic and Brazil. The illegals were discovered in a motel facility just north of Gregory Town and following apprehension they were transferred to the detention center in Nassau.

On Saturday May 24th, a second group of six illegal immigrants also from the Dominican Republic were discovered trying to land at the Rock Sound Airport. The six were sent to the detention center in Nassau while the pilot, also of foreign nationality is still being held in Eleuthera, awaiting arraignment by the South Eleuthera Administrator, Ms. Bain. The arraignment is expected to occur late on Monday or on Tuesday, May 27.
 
Officials say that police and immigration are seeing an increasing trend in the numbers of illegal immigrants and frequency of occurence of human smuggling in the Bahamas in general and also specifically on Eleuthera; with the island most often used as a transshipment point for immigrants trying to enter the USA illegally.