Eight stowaways removed from barge entering San Juan Harbor

Coast Guard Station San Juan boat crew oversees a group of eight stowaway aliens apprehended moments earlier aboard the Charlotte Bridge barge as it was being towed into San Juan Harbor, May 22, 2026. [U.S. Coast Guard photo]

A Coast Guard Station San Juan boat crew and Homeland Security Task Force San Juan Region partner agencies apprehended eight stowaways in San Juan Harbor, Puerto Rico, May 22, 2026.

The stowaways —four Chinese and four Dominican Republic nationals — were transferred to Customs and Border Protection San Juan Field Office personnel for further processing.

Sector San Juan watchstanders received an initial report from the Customs and Border Protection Caribbean Air and Marine Operations Center stating a visual detection of possible stowaways aboard the inbound barge Charlotte Bridge as it was being towed by the tug vessel Southern Dawn. Watchstanders directed the master of the tug vessel Southern Dawn to hold position outside of the harbor and launched Station San Juan to respond.

The Station San Juan boat crew intercepted the inbound tug vessel and barge and conducted a safety and security boarding. The boat crew safely apprehended eight stowaways and transferred them to awaiting CBP agents at the Puerto Nuevo Terminals of San Juan Harbor.

“The coordination and swift response of the Coast Guard and our partner agencies to apprehend and process these stowaways demonstrates our collective commitment to securing and protecting the U.S. maritime border and navigable waterways in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands” said Cmdr. Matthew Romano, Coast Guard Sector San Juan chief of response.

This is not the first such incident of its kind and not the first involving the Charlotte Bridge and Southern Dawn, as we reported at the time, back in January, two stowaways had to be rescued from the sea when they jumped from the Charlotte Bridge after the master of the Southern Dawn had reported their suspected presence and a Coast Guard Sector San Juan small boat crew responded.

This most recent interdiction is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative, a whole of government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings.