Sailboat Carrying 128 Intercepted

The Coast Guard intercepted a 45-foot sailboat dangerously overloaded with 128 Haitians and Dominicans on Thursday in high seas about 25 miles off Miami Beach.

The 112 Haitians and 16 Dominicans were loaded onto a Coast Guard cutter, where they awaited the government’s decision on their future, Petty Officer Alex Worden said.

Illegal aliens intercepted offshore are usually returned home, Petty Officer Steve Aitkins said.

One 27-year-old Haitian woman hospitalized with dehydration, shock and hypothermia was in fair condition.

The Coast Guard says an increasing number of Dominicans have taken to the seas recently from their poverty stricken homeland. The Dominican Republic shares the Caribbean island of Hispaniola with Haiti.