Surfs up dudes.

Illegal immigrants detained near Swami's Beach
By Angelica Martinez Union-Tribune Staff Writer
1:59 p.m. May 26, 2009

ENCINITAS – Nearly two dozen illegal immigrants were detained early Tuesday near Swami's Beach, and two people believed to have smuggled them into the country were arrested shortly afterward on a boat, officials said.

Sheriff's deputies and Border Patrol agents went to the beach about 5:20 a.m. after receiving a tip that several people were getting off a boat that had just come ashore.

Officials found 16 men and six women hiding in nearby brush. They weredetermined to be Mexican nationals who were in the United States illegally, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said.

By the time authorities arrived, the boat used in the smuggling attempt had returned to sea, officials said. U.S. Coast Guard and customs agents with the Air and Marine Interdiction Division searched for the boat by air and sea.

Agents in an aircraft soon found a 30-foot panga, a type of boat used in Mexico for fishing, traveling south. It was stopped by agents about five miles west of Point Loma.

Two men on the boat were arrested on suspicion of immigrant smuggling, officials said. The group being detained at the beach was being processed by Border Patrol agents.

Angelica Martinez: (619) 293-1317; angelica.martinez@uniontrib.com

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