By Christy McKerney, Sun-Sentinel. Web-posted: 10:43 p.m. July 4, 2000

ISLAMORADA -- Twenty-nine Cubans who fled their country landed safely Tuesday afternoon in the Keys, where they were picked up by Immigration and Naturalization Service border patrol agents.

Cuban nationals land all the time in the Keys, immigration authorities acknowledged.

But this case was unusual because a beachgoer reported that two men in a boat dropped the group off near Mile Marker 86 around 2 p.m., then left the area, Assistant Chief Patrol Agent Joseph Mellia said.

Florida Marine Patrol stopped the 29-foot Contender in Islamorada. They arrested a West Palm Beach man and a Hialeah man, both unidentified, on suspicion of smuggling.

The Border Patrol and Coast Guard found 14 men, 10 women, three girls and two boys hiking in mangroves.

The group said they left Caibarien, Cuba, at midnight on July 2.

They all appeared in good health and were being processed at the Pembroke Pines Border Patrol Station. They would then be taken to Krome Detention Center for interviewing and health screenings.

Since they reached land, they will probably be allowed to stay in the country, Mellia said.

Copyright 1999, Sun-Sentinel Co. & South Florida Interactive, Inc.

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