In 1718, one of the privateering vessels was captured by a St. Thomas corsair. Due to this incident, the crew learned that the British were settling the island of Vieques. Governor Bertolano ordered Enríquez to send someone to verify the veracity of this rumor. He equipped two ships with military supplies and departed for Vieques. The crew confirmed the information and set sail to San Juan. During its return, the ships located a small boat with seven black men, which they captured and took to San Juan. The group was fleeing from St. Thomas to Puerto Rico pursuing a baptism and protested their capture, but Enríquez ignored their plights and keep them as slaves. He convinced the governor to list them as "privateering goods" despite the circumstances not falling under the stipulations of the letter of marque. This also ignored royal decrees that allowed any slave that arrived to Puerto Rico pursuing a conversion to Catholicism the opportunity to become a free man. Pozo opposed this move, managing to revoke the governor's original ruling. Shortly afterwards, a vessel property of the Armada de Barlovento arrived to San Juan. Bertolano told its commander, General José Roche de la Peña, about the situation in Vieques. Bertolano decided to organize a mini-armada of five vessels. Only one belonged to the Crown, the others were private. Enríquez loaned the sloop "La Perla", which Roche commanded. A makeshift crew was composed of privateers, members of the Puerto Rican urban militias and soldiers. Once there, the local forces quickly overwhelmed the invaders, only suffering a single loss while the British lost over 30 men and other 59 were made prisoners of war. Afterwards, the settlement was burned to the ground. After successfully defeating the British in Vieques, "La Perla" intercepted a British ship traveling from Bermuda, capturing 72 slaves. Enríquez asked to list them as privateering goods instead of war spoils, but this was denied since "La Perla" had been supplied with public money. The Crown scolded him for his actions during this event. Besides his active participation, Enríquez also took the initiative of rebuilding the San José fort, undertaking most of the project's cost.