Turks & Caicos using Smuggler’s boat in border protection

By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#TurksandCaicos, August 21, 2022 – A former smugglers boat is now the fastest in the Turks and Caicos Islands’ interception fleet according to Governor Nigel Dakin.

Hundreds of irregular migrants attempt to breech the TCI each year, most of them packed tightly in fast boats engineered to outrun diligent border officers.

But the Turks and Caicos has been steadily increasing its capability to intercept these boats through partnerships with other nations and increased radar presence and manpower at home.

More interceptions mean a better handle on people smuggling which in the previous year ballooned across the Americas, TCI included. The Maritime Operations Center Officers decided not to destroy the boats or allow them to sit and gather dust, now the vessels have redemption and TCI border security assets are bolstered.

One vessel went to sea trials recently; officers tested its capacity to successfully operate.

Governor Dakin revealed the information in an Instagram post noting that the boat was now the swiftest craft in use for interception, he stressed that this was good “given the growing speed of vessels used by our criminal opponents.“

He also lauded the Maritime Police for their contributions to the Turks and Caicos aside from preventing human smuggling. Those, he said, included search and rescue monitoring the waters for illegal fishing in general navigation.