GRAND TURK, Turks and Caicos Islands (CMC) – Immigration authorities in the Turks and Caicos Islands say they are investigating the escape of at least a dozen Cubans, who mysteriously arrived in Miami in what is believed to be a human trafficking ring.

lara Gardiner, of the Turks and Caicos’ Ministry of Immigration and Border Control, confirmed that authorities are conducting the probe but did not know when the inquiry would be completed.

Authorities said the Miami arrivals include the mother and other relatives of Oakland Athletics outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, who told reporters he was delighted after seeing his mother for the first time since he defected in 2011.

Officials in the Turks and Caicos said the disappearance of the Cubans points to the existence of a ring suspected of smuggling Cubans and Haitians westward through the Bahamas and to Florida.

Turks and Caicos officials said the case started when coastal radar detected a speed boat coming out of Cuba in October and authorities followed it to a waterfront mansion in the Discovery Bay area of Providenciales, the third largest island in the territory.

Police detained a total of 25 illegal Cuban migrants in the rented mansion and other parts of the island chain, including Cespedes’ mother, Estela Milanes Salazar, three children, a seven-month-old baby and her 17-year-old mother.

Officials said some of the Cubans had fake Turks and Caicos stamps on their passports.

The four children and their mothers stayed with a Cuban doctor legally in the Turks and Caicos, and the rest were taken to the Five Cays Detention Centre, where Milanes and nine others asked for political asylum.

A judge ordered the 10 Cubans freed in January, after their attorney complained that conditions at the detention centre were terrible and that one of the women had suffered a miscarriage for lack of medical attention. They had to post a $20,000 guarantee and report to police once a week.

Prosecutors opposed the request, arguing that the Cubans had requested asylum only after they were found by police, that not all asylum applicants were legitimate and the Cubans would be free to slip out of the Turks and Caicos illegally.

Authorities believe that smugglers took 16 Cubans out of the Turks and Caicos aboard speed boats.

Without elaborating, Cespedes said his 12 family members left Cuba illegally more than one year ago for the United States.