The Coast Guard Friday brought 15 people — a suspected smuggler and 14 would-be migrants — to Miami for "further investigation and possible prosecution."
The boat was spotted near the Bahamas Tuesday by crew on a U.S. Customs and Border Protection plane. A CPB boat crew intercepted the vessel off Miami, about 12 miles southeast of Government Cut.
The vessel did not stop and the Customs and Border Patrol crew "employed warning shots and disabling fire," according to a Coast Guard press release. All 15 people were taken aboard a Coast Guard cutter.
The group includes one Cuban national who is a lawful permanent resident of the U.S., one Ecuadorian migrant, one Jamaican migrant, six Chinese migrants and six Sri Lankan migrants, according to the Coast Guard.
The U.S. resident "was the suspected operator of the vessel and is being investigated for human smuggling," according to the Coast Guard.
