Bahamas military detains 70 Haitian migrants from sailboat
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The Bahamas military has detained 70 Haitians crossing the southern portion of the island chain in a sailboat.
A Royal Bahamas Defense Force statement says the suspected migrants were located Monday evening by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter after they were initially spotted the previous day by a Bahamian patrol plane.
The military intercepted the 40-foot boat named "Island Girl" east of Long Island in the southern Bahamas. The Haitians were to be taken to Nassau and appeared likely to be repatriated in coming days.
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The detention marked the first time this year that suspected migrants were apprehended by the Bahamas. In 2017, defense forces detained about 1,300 migrants, mostly from Haiti, as part of a broader crackdown on people smuggling and illegal immigration.