At about 6pm on Friday evening, April 17th, 2015 Police in Eleuthera received a call from an alert Captain at Half Moon Cay, that two suspicious vessels had been spotted off the southern tip of Eleuthera. Police then contacted the Defence Force, which mobilised interceptor vessels to the area. Around 9pm on the same evening two Haitian freighter vessels were intercepted at sea, just off of the Bannerman Town area.
Authorities boarded the vessels and reported discovering a total of 10 Haitian immigrants on board. Four of them were said to be in possession of expired passports, and reportedly, none of the vessels had cleared Customs or Immigration. All on board were taken directly to the Coral Harbour Base in New Providence.
While in the area, authorities spotted a third vessel, which having been alerted to their presence, escaped further detection. A full search was said to have continued until 2am on Saturday morning, April 18th, 2015 without success.
Superintendent Christopher Wright, Officer in Charge of the Eleuthera District confirmed that local authorities are on alert for the third vessel, which evaded discovery, with the search continuing on Saturday.
