UPDATE: Escaped illegal immigrant still on the run
The man, one of two illegal immigrants who were being held in the custody of security guards at the Paradise Suites Hotel located in the One Stop Mall building in Road Town, made a dash for his freedom and has not been seen since.
The men, believed to be from Cuba, entered the territory the night before on Tuesday May 24, 2016 at the Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport at Beef Island and were deemed not to have met the requirements for landing.
According to a senior source within the Department of Immigration, speaking to this news site under the condition of anonymity, said that so far efforts to find the individual have been fruitless.
The person said efforts to find the escaped man were ongoing, however, the source declined to give details about what those efforts entailed.
Efforts to get a comment from Acting Chief Immigration Officer Ian B. Penn were futile.
This news site also sought to get an update from Police Information Officer Diane Drayton but she did not respond up to post time.
It is not clear if police have released any information to help the public assist in locating the illegal immigrant.
See previous article published on May 25, 2016:
Illegal immigrant escapes
- was being held at hotel in One Stop Mall by local security firm
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI- One of two illegal immigrants escaped the custody of a local security firm earlier today May 25, 2016 after they were taken there to be held subsequent to allegedly entering the territory illegally.
According to a source at the Immigration Department, two Cuban nationals arrived at the Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport at Beef Island last evening May 24, 2016.
This new site was told by our confidential source that upon arrival it was discovered that the men were not properly documented to land in the territory and they were turned over to a local security firm whose job it was to keep them in custody until it was time for them to be repatriated from the territory by air.
According to reports the men were being held at the Paradise Suites Hotel in One Stop Mall in Road Town.
The source informed this news site that sometime between last evening and this morning one of the men made a dash, escaping the custody into which he was placed.
One man told this news site that he was driving along Fleming Street this morning when he saw a man making “a dash down the road.” The source said that when he got around to the One Stop Mall he saw the commotion among the security personnel and realised that it was the alleged illegal immigrant that had run past him seconds earlier.
Another source said one of the security guards was limping but it was not clear whether he was injured during the escape.
It is not clear if the man has been recaptured.
Efforts to get clarification from the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force were futile.
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