17 suspected migrants taken into custody on Jupiter Island beach Friday

Migrants found on Jupiter Island
TC Palm



By Will Greenlee of TCPalm
Updated: 4:18 p.m.

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Credit: ERIC HASERT
Martin County Sheriff's Deputy Grace Zopf (left) works with seven suspected migrants taken into custody Friday morning along the 400 block of South Beach Road on Jupiter Island. (ERIC HASERT/TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS) Grace Zopf, cq PHOTOGRAPHED: Friday JANUARY 22, 2016


JUPITER ISLAND — Seventeen people — most from Haiti — were taken into custody Friday after apparently landing on the beach, according to local and federal officials.

Several of them Friday morning sat or stood in a grassy area by a sidewalk in the 400 block of South Beach Road on southern Jupiter Island.

Martin County Sheriff's officials were notified about 9 a.m. of the incident, according to Christine Christofek, Martin County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman.

"The best estimate we have from one of the refugees is that 20 got off the boat," Martin County Sheriff's Lt. Dennis Fritchie said, standing at the scene.

Fritchie later said 16 people were in custody, and that four more were being sought. By late Friday morning, steady rain was falling, and Fritchie said the seas were pretty rough.

"We got information that there was a boat just north of Blowing Rocks (Preserve)," he said. " ... We've had enough units in the area so they're probably hunkered down somewhere in the palmettos."

Later in the afternoon, Frank Miller, assistant chief patrol agent with the U.S. Border Patrol based in Pembroke Pines, said 17 people had been apprehended.

"With the assistance of Jupiter Island (Public Safety department) and the Martin County Sheriff's Office, border patrol agents were able to arrest 17 illegal aliens who were smuggled onto the Florida coast using a vessel," Miller said.

He said 15 people were from Haiti, one from the Bahamas and one from Jamaica. All are adults and almost all are men.

Law enforcement officials with a dog walked through the Blowing Rocks Preserve parking lot, and a number of law enforcement vehicles could be seen at various points on Jupiter Island.

Fritchie said he did not know whether the boat captain was in custody.

Miller said those in custody will be interviewed and then turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

Fritchie said officials with Jupiter Island Public Safety, Tequesta police, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office and federal border patrol officials were involved.

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