CBP Breaks Up Smuggling Ring 36 Arrested in San Diego, CA in 3 Incidents

Yaqui for Borderland Beat from: AFNTJ / LA Times / cpb.gov

The U.S. Border Patrol said this abandoned boat on Beacon’s Beach in Encinitas was used to illegally smuggle people into the country on Friday. The Border Patrol of the San Diego sector dismantled an organization of human traffickers who used the sea route to illegally introduce their victims to the United States. The arrests came within hours after people fled a beached boat in Encinitas, California

Hours after a boat landed on a state beach in Encinitas and the occupants took off running, federal agents found and arrested 15 people, dismantling a suspected smuggling ring, the U.S. Border Patrol said Tuesday.

About 3:30 p.m. Friday, a 25-foot pleasure craft came ashore at Beacon’s Beach, the agency said in a news release. According to the Border Patrol, witnesses said they saw 11 people running on the beach, and two more scrambling up the cliffs.

Agents searched but could not find anyone. They did, however, discover 13 life jackets in the empty boat. This is the First incident on June 30, 2020.

Using what the agency described as “previously developed intelligence,” as well as talking with witnesses, the agents found the group who they suspected was involved in smuggling people into the United States via the ocean.

By Friday night, agents arrested eight people they suspect had been on the boat. The seven Mexican men and one Mexican woman, ages 22 to 39, are believed to have entered the United States illegally, the agency said.

Border Patrol agents also arrested seven suspected smugglers, some of whom the agency believes had acted as getaway drivers in Friday’s event. Of the seven, three are Mexican, and four are U.S. citizens.

The agency also seized four vehicles they believe were used in the alleged smuggling scheme.

In the news release, San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent Aaron Heitke praised the “hard work and diligence the agents displayed in this case.”

“Our agents dismantled an entire smuggling ring through the use of targeted intelligence,” Heitke said.

In Two Separate Incidents: 

21 People Apprehended Along San Diego Beaches & Coast After Two Boats Fail to Yield at Sea

Release Date: July 3, 2020

SAN DIEGO – Two boats attempting to enter the U.S. illegally along the San Diego coast failed to yield to CBP Air and Marine Operations (AMO) and the U.S. Coast Guard, leading to CBP marine interdiction agents shooting out one engine at sea, and U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehending 14 others after their boat landed at Dog Beach early Friday morning.

“We had multiple agencies involved in bringing this dangerous smuggling attempt to a safe conclusion,” said Christopher Hunter, Director of Marine Operations for AMO in San Diego.  “Smugglers have no regard for the lives and safety of everyone on board when they make reckless maritime maneuvers.”

                                                     Routine Patrol in San Diego Bay

At about 1 a.m. on July 3, a CBP multi-role enforcement aircraft crew tracked two pangas as they crossed from Mexican territorial waters towards the U.S.  The aircraft directed an AMO coastal interceptor boat crew to the location of one panga, and a U.S. Coast Guard small boat to the other panga.

At about 3:30 a.m., the AMO CBP coastal interceptor boat crew reached the first panga with lights and sirens going, directing the panga to stop.  However, the panga failed to yield and instead fled from the AMO marine interdiction agents.  The marine interdiction agents fired two marine warning shots, and the panga still failed to yield.  Finally, the marine interdiction agents fired a disabling round into the panga’s engine, which stopped the boat about five miles from Point Loma.  On board, marine interdiction agents found seven people.

The USCG small boat reached the second panga, which also failed to yield.  The second panga was able to land on Ocean Beach in San Diego, near the area known as Dog Beach.  U.S. Border Patrol agents in place along the beach immediately apprehended four individuals on the beach who attempted to climb out of the boat and flee.  Agents apprehended nine others in a nearby park with assistance from the crew of the multi-role enforcement aircraft. 

One additional person fled by trying to swim away from agents on the beach.  Thanks to a citizen calling in with information, U.S. Border Patrol agents were able to apprehend him on the jetty at Dog Beach.

                                                         Typical Interdiction Boats

The marine interdiction agents brought the seven individuals from the first boat safely to the dock, and turned them over to U.S. Border Patrol agents for processing.  Border Patrol agents determined that all seven, six men, ages 19-50, and one woman, age 29, were Mexican nationals with no legal ability to enter the U.S.

U.S. Border Patrol agents also processed the 14 individuals they apprehended from the second boat.  The group included: three women, ages 27-40; ten men, ages 18-45, and one unaccompanied male teenager.  All were Mexican nationals with no legal ability to enter the U.S.

In both cases, AMO agents seized the panga boats.

If you have information about maritime smuggling or suspicious activity along the coast of California, please call the San Diego Joint Harbor Operations Center at 1-800-854-9834 extension 1, or notify local law enforcement by dialing 9-1-1.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is a member of the Regional Coordinating Mechanism (ReCoM).  The ReCoM is comprised of Department of Homeland Security agencies to include the U.S. Coast Guard, CBP’s Air and Marine Operations, Border Patrol, Office of Field Operations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, and numerous state and local law-enforcement agencies.  The ReCoM utilizes intelligence, planning, and joint operations to combat the threat of transnational crime along the California coast.