(Eleuthera, Bahamas) – Following on the heels of the recent illegal landing of immigrants near Bannerman Town on Wednesday, October 28th, authorities launched a joint operation on Saturday, October 31st, with 29 Law Enforcement Officers from the Department of Immigration, the Defence Force and the Police in Eleuthera, to search for illegal immigrants on island.
This concerted effort to tackle the consistent stream of illegal arrivals in Eleuthera, was met with organized evasion, using today’s mobile technology. “We found out that a lot of cell phones were being used, because they have a chat group, which was updating them to locations of officers”, revealed Immigration OIC, Shema Darling. She added, “Previously persons would have already been underground because of the boat situation and us doing heavy surveillance, but all in all we still thought it was effective, because they know that law enforcement is pursuing no matter what, and we want them to keep that in mind.”
At the end of Saturday’s operation, a total of 11 men, 4 women and 1 child, had been taken into custody from the Central and North Eleuthera areas,, and were transferred to New Providence, via Pineapple Air on Saturday evening.
Saturday’s joint operation covered settlements from Rock Sound to Bannerman Town. Earlier operations during the week saw local immigration and police officials searching in settlements further south, in their efforts.
