fp Turks and Caicos

“It has been a good week for the Maritime Division for the Royal Turks and Caicos Police Force,” said Assistant Commissioner Neil Hall, who reported the interception of a Haitian migrant sloop and the capture of a boat illegally fishing in TCI waters.

“On Sunday afternoon (May 23), our spotter plane on routine patrol cited what it believed was an illegal sloop coming north into our territorial waters,” Hall said. “We dispatched our launch and our fast boat, the Hurricane, with a team of officers under the command of A.S.P. Simon Tolbert.

“They intercepted a sloop with Haitian irregular migrants heading for Providenciales, they brought the boat into South Dock and the irregular migrants were handed over to immigration for processing,” Hall said. A team from the Red Cross met the team at South Dock and assessed the medical needs of the 85 people who were on the boat.

Then on Tuesday, May 25, marine police caught a vessel illegally fishing in TCI waters, Hall said. The boat and its crew of 16 Dominicans was towed to the Caicos Shipyard, and the catch was turned over to the Fisheries Department, Hall said.

The government has plans for a radar system to help detect illegal vessels in TCI waters, but Hall said the project still seems to be stalled because of the government’s financial situation.

“I am hoping it won’t be too long before I give you some positive news on that,” Hall said.