A grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico has indicted a Dominican national for multiple crimes related to human smuggling that resulted in the death of a minor child.
The Dominican national was charged with smuggling aliens into the United States, a crime that resulted in the death of a minor, aiding and abetting, and improper entry of an alien, according to the Department of Justice’s statement.
Alcibades De Paz was the captain of a boat that carried about 39 non-American citizens in an attempt to enter Puerto Rico illegally. The plan to smuggle people from the Dominican Republic to the United States involved using Puerto Rico’s west coast, according to court records. While law enforcement, including the Puerto Rico Police Bureau marine unit (Fuerzas Unidas de Rápida Acción, FURA), attempted to intercept the suspected vessel, De Paz is said to have been the engine operator. The boat capsized before it could reach the coast….