By The Epoch Times | Created at 2026-09-23 15:02:00 | Updated at 2026-09-23 15:46:23
53 minutes ago
A U.S. Coast Guard vessel docks, in a file photo captured in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Nov. 22, 2021. Eva Marie Uzcategui/AFP via Getty Images
Federal officials on Monday said the Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) intercepted an alleged smuggling vessel with nearly two-dozen people on board, including 13 Chinese nationals, near Florida’s coast.
Last week, the Coast Guard and CBP detected “a surface target of interest” near Angelfish Creek, Florida, according to a Border Patrol news release. When they intercepted the vessel, they discovered it was a 27-foot-long cabin vessel before it was interdicted.
They found that one suspected human smuggler, a Cuban national, and 22 illegal immigrants of various nationalities were on board. That included 13 Chinese nationals, eight Ecuadorian nationals, and one from the Dominican Republican, officials said.
The people who were apprehended were transferred to Coast Guard cutter ship Pablo Valent for more processing, while the 27-foot long vessel was seized by federal authorities, the release said.
Lt. Corryn Ulrich, commanding officer of the Pablo Valent, said that the apprehensions show that the Coast Guard is “ready to save lives and enforce federal law at sea.”
“Attempting to enter the United States illegally by sea is extremely dangerous and will not go undetected,” a CBP regional director, Andres Blanco, said in a statement. “This interdiction demonstrates the strength of our maritime partnerships and our commitment to stopping human smuggling organizations before they can put more lives at risk. Those who attempt these dangerous voyages face arrest, prosecution, removal, and the very real possibility of losing their lives at sea.”
The interdiction was carried out under the Coast Guard’s Operation Vigilant Sentry, which is designed to stop illegal immigration into the United States from sea.
Photos of the arrest were published by an official Coast Guard X account earlier this week, showing a Coast Guard ship approaching the alleged smuggling vessel as well as the individuals who were on board.
Coast Guard officials this week said they discovered and interdicted a 30-foot-long vessel around a mile east of Ocean Reef, Florida, on Sept. 15.
On the vessel, Coast Guard boat crew members found 23 people before they transferred 20 of them to the Bahamas for processing. The other three were taken into Homeland Security Investigations custody, the Coast Guard said.
The Trump administration has made border security alongside mass deportations of illegal immigrants a priority. Since January 2025, President Donald Trump has issued a number of executive orders to stop border crossings.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees both the Coast Guard and CBP, reported 16 straight months of releasing no illegal immigrants into the United States at the U.S.–Mexico border, according to a statement published last week.
