By DENISE MAYCOCK
Tribune Freeport Reporter
dmaycock@tribunemedia.net
FORTY-FIVE Haitian nationals apprehended during a recent interdiction operation on Long Island were charged with illegal landing in the Magistrate’s Court this week.
The migrants appeared before Magistrate JoyAnn Ferguson-Pratt in Long Island. Twenty-two men and one woman were sentenced to six months in prison.
One additional woman who was charged with deceit of a public officer and illegal landing was sentenced to one year and six months in prison to run concurrently.
The remaining 21 adult migrants pleaded guilty to illegal landing and were granted a conditional discharge. The judge ordered them deported at the earliest opportunity.
According to officials, direct repatriation from Long Island through Exuma is currently being arranged onboard a Bahamasair flight.
During an interdiction operation in Andros this week, 52 Haitian migrants, including 45 men and seven women, were discovered at Mars Bay.
The group was expected to appear before the magistrate yesterday.
These latest interdiction operations on Long Island and Andros resulted in the apprehension and arrest of nearly 100 illegal Haitians.
The Long Island operation was headed by Chief Immigration Officer Harold Thurston, officer-in-charge of the Enforcement Unit, and the Mars Bay operation was headed by Superintendent of Immigration Stephen Laroda, officer-in-charge of the Anti-Corruption Unit and his team. Both teams were assisted by officers of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force.
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