The U.S. Coast Guard intercepted this 15- to 20-foot boat crowded with Cuban migrants, off the coast of Miami  ALSO: US / Cuba relations

July 12, 1999
Web posted at: 2:43 p.m. EDT (1843 GMT)

MIAMI (CNN) -- A vessel carrying 16 Cuban migrants was stopped off Miami's coast Monday morning, U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Gibran Soto told CNN.

The Cubans, 13 men and three women, were being handed over to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which will decide whether to return them to Cuba, allow them U.S. entry or send them to a third country. Most likely, the Cubans will go back to Cuba, Soto said.

He said the Cubans were aboard a 15- to 20-foot boat that was outfitted with an outboard engine and a mast. It was stopped 25 miles east of Key Biscayne at 10:40 a.m. EDT.

On Saturday, the body of a migrant Cuban woman was found after the boat she was on with 11 other Cubans collided with a Coast Guard cutter and sank. The other people were rescued.

The boat was attempting to evade the Coast Guard while trying to make it to Florida's shores Friday, a Coast Guard spokesman said.

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