SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A Coast Guard Station San Juan boat crew and Homeland Security Task Force San Juan Region partner agencies apprehended eight stowaways in San Juan Harbor, Puerto Rico, May 22, 2026.
The apprehended stowaways included four Chinese and four Dominican Republic nationals, who were transferred to Customs and Border Protection San Juan Field Office personnel for further processing.
Sector San Juan watchstanders received an initial report from the Customs and Border Protection Caribbean Air and Marine Operations Center stating a visual detection of possible stowaways aboard the inbound barge Charlotte Bridge as it was being towed by the tug vessel Southern Dawn. Watchstanders directed the master of the tug vessel Southern Dawn to hold position outside of the harbor and launched Station San Juan to respond.
The Station San Juan boat crew intercepted the inbound tug vessel and barge and conducted a safety and security boarding. The boat crew safely apprehended eight stowaways and transferred them to awaiting CBP agents at the Puerto Nuevo Terminals of San Juan Harbor.
“The coordination and swift response of the Coast Guard and our partner agencies to apprehend and process these stowaways demonstrates our collective commitment to securing and protecting the U.S. maritime border and navigable waterways in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands” said Cmdr. Matthew Romano, Coast Guard Sector San Juan chief of response.
This interdiction is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14519: Protecting American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole of government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration the HSTF directs the full might of the United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF San Juan Region comprises agents and officers from Coast Guard Sector San Juan, the Coast Guard Investigative Service; the Drug Enforcement Administration Caribbean Division; the Federal Bureau of Investigation San Juan Field Office; United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Homeland Security Investigations; U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations, Air and Marine Operations Caribbean Branch, and U.S. Border Patrol Ramey Sector; the United States Marshals Service Districts of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Miami Division – San Juan Field Office; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - Miami Field Division; the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area - Puerto Rico / Virgin Islands; the Transportation Security Administration - Federal Air Marshal; the Federal Aviation Administration, the Department of State Bureau of Diplomatic Security – RAC San Juan, the United States Secret Service and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico.
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