Daily newspapers carried over the weekend the story of the death of a traveler and injuries of eight others on an illegal boat trip from Nagua on the Northeast Coast to Puerto Rico. Some 100-120 persons would have made the trip. News stories say that two Navy men, stationed in Nagua, shot at the boat people when they chose to leave without paying an alleged RD$71,000 "toll" to the Navy personnel. Reportedly, they paid the Navy staff RD$14,000, but refused to pay the additional sum. Luis Liriano and Mary Martinez, parents of deceased 27-year old Diomedes Liriano, blamed the Navy for the death of their son. Chief of the Navy, Vice Admiral Victor Garcia Alecont announced that over the same weekend five ships with illegal boat trips were arrested. On the boats were several persons that had been deported from the US and were making their way back. The Vice Admiral Garc?a promised an investigation of the report of extortion by Navy members. Boat organizers routinely charge a fee for the actual trip, and then extra amounts to pay off Dominican navy personnel and Puerto Rican authorities.
