ST THOMAS, Jamaica— Several people, including women and children who are believed to have entered the island illegally from Haiti and Brazil, were taken into police custody following a special operation in Leith Hall district, St Thomas on Wednesday morning.

Police reported that they carried out a search on a premises in the community and three adult women, along with three children, who reportedly entered the island illegally were found in a house.

The foreign nationals have been identified as 32-year-old Michena Jeudy, 37-year-old Mesidor Venita, 28-year-old Islande Dominique, four-year-old Keven Leger, five-year-old Tammyson Haynes and 11-year-old Fawendia Leger.

The police said that the foreign nationals could not give a satisfactory account of how they legally entered the island.

They were reportedly found in a house belonging to Ramario Eldemire otherwise called ‘Rampo’ who is suspected of harbouring the illegal foreigners.

Four other men were also found in the house. They are 31-year-old Kevin Eldermire otherwise called Harry Potter, 63-year-old Tony Hutchinson, 58-year-old Billy Graham and 50-year-old Kevin Williams.

All the people found on the premises were taken to the Morant Bay Police station for processing, the police said.

It is unclear if some of the illegal foreign nationals were part of the group of Haitian refugees who entered the island illegally last week, more than half of whom were unaccounted for. Ten of those Haitian refugees, who landed at Back Street in Long Road, Portland, were taken into custody after a police operation in the parish.

READ: 10 Haitian refugees who landed in Jamaica in police custody

Haiti has been facing economic, security and political crises for years, resulting in thousands of citizens fleeing the country.

The assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021 has dramatically worsened the situation, with gangs taking an increasingly strong hold in the impoverished nation of 11 million people.