FORT-DE-FRANCE, Martinique (AP) A 52-year-old man from Martinique has been detained following accusations that he planned to transport 27 Cuban migrants from Dominica to the British Virgin Islands.
Government spokesman Eric Corbaux says the unidentified suspect rented a catamaran and left Dominica with the migrants, but stopped in the French Caribbean island of St. Martin when he thought a plane had spotted him. He says police also found $41,000 in cash aboard the boat.
Corbaux said late Tuesday that police suspect the man is part of a larger human trafficking ring that operates in the Caribbean and is believed to target migrants seeking to enter the U.S. illegally.
