PR: Mona crossing capture

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - The U.S. Coast Guard detained 35 Dominican and Peruvian migrants trying to reach Puerto Rico on Tuesday, officials said.

A police patrol boat intercepted a 23-foot (7-meter) yawl near southwest Boqueron carrying 38 migrants - 24 Dominicans and 14 Peruvians, Coast Guard Lt. Eric Willis said.

Officers handed out lifejackets and three jumped overboard about 3 miles (5 kilometers) off the coast and swam for shore in calm waters, Willis said.

The Coast Guard said it was searching for them but officials believe they made it to land safely, saying at least one life jacket was found close to shore.

"We just want to be certain," Willis said, adding the search was due to be called off by Tuesday night. "The probability is they made it to land."

Some of the migrants told officials that the three men who jumped overboard were in charge of smuggling them across the Mona Passage, which separates the Dominican Republic from Puerto Rico.

If Peruvian migrants can make it as far as Puerto Rico via Santo Domingo, then so can terrorists from the Muslim Triangle (nexus of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay).