15 people, bails of pot seized when boat lands in Encinitas

By Debbi Baker and Jose Luis Jiménez
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS
2:41 p.m. October 14, 2009

ENCINITAS – Fifteen people are in custody and 35 bundles of marijuana have been seized after Border Patrol agents spotted a boat as it came ashore at a Leucadia beach early Wednesday morning, an agency spokesman said.

It is the third smuggling attempt by sea detected in a 24-hour period in San Diego County.

Agents on routine patrol spotted the latest smuggling attempt about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, said Jerry Conlin, a Border Patrol spokesman. Agents are still investigating the nationality of the individuals on the motorboat, but they are believed to be illegal immigrants, Conlin said.

One agent was taken to a hospital after falling down a cliff, Conlin said. He is expected to make a full recovery from the undisclosed injury.

Twenty-four hours earlier, Customs and Border Protection agents intercepted a panga fishing boat about eight miles off the coast of La Jolla.
Agents determined the two men aboard the small boat, ages 29 and 44, were from Mexico and were involved in an earlier smuggling operation involving six people dropped off at South Ponto Beach in Carlsbad.

The men were arrested and handed over to the Border Patrol for processing. Later that morning, agents apprehended two more men who admitted being part of the group that was dropped off on the beach.

About 11 p.m. Tuesday, another suspected smuggling boat was intercepted in Mission Bay. Fourteen people were arrested and another jumped from the boat, swam ashore and was not located, officials said.

Debbi Baker: (619) 293-1710;
Jose Luis Jiménez: (619) 293-1865;

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