19 suspected illegal immigrants detained

CARLSBAD: Police detained 19 suspected illegal immigrants in a van early early yesterday and arrested two more on smuggling charges, authorities said.

A resident called Carlsbad police about 3 a.m. to report a suspicious vehicle on Camino del Parque near Paseo del Norte. Officers found 14 men and five women wearing life jackets and covered in sand, said police and the U.S. Border Patrol.

Officers also detained the driver and another man. The group was turned over to the Border Patrol. Three of the immigrants will remain in the United States as witnesses in the smuggling case, and the rest were returned to Mexico, the Border Patrol said.

Police searched the nearby beaches for the boat in which the group apparently arrived, but didn't find one.

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