By Associated Press

MIAMI -- Thirty-six Cubans -- including 22 in a speedboat racing toward Florida -- were returned to Cuba this week after separate interdictions at sea, the Coast Guard said Friday.

The larger group was spotted in the speedboat Sunday about 10 miles east of Key Largo by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement aircraft, according to a Coast Guard news release.

Twenty-one were repatriated and one, a suspected smuggler, was turned over to federal law enforcement.

Under U.S. immigration law, Cubans intercepted at sea are generally returned to the island nation, while those who reach shore are usually allowed to remain in the United States.

On Feb. 16, another 20 Cubans were rescued by a Good Samaritan from a sinking vessel 273 miles west of Key West, according to the news release.

That group was transferred to a Coast Guard cutter, where a 6-year-old diabetic girl was treated at sea and then transferred with her parents to a hospital. Two more migrants from the group of 20 were transferred to the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The other 15 were repatriated.

Cubans found at sea who demonstrate a credible fear of persecution are taken to Guantanamo for additional processing.

Copyright © 2004, The Associated Press