Thread: Eight on panga boat arrested off La Jolla coast

Eight on panga boat arrested off La Jolla coast

Karen Kucher Contact Reporter


Eight adults suspected of entering the country without permission were arrested on a boat found off the coast of La Jolla early Sunday morning, officials said Tuesday.

A U.S. Coast Guard vessel spotted the panga-style fishing boat illegally entering the U.S. on Sunday around 5:15 a.m. near La Jolla.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers aboard a boat from the agency’s Air and Marine Operations unit were dispatched to intercept the single-engine panga, which they did around 6 a.m.

All eight people on the boat were determined to be Mexican nationals. Border Patrol agents identified two of the men as being suspected smugglers.

The passengers included three men and three women, two of whom claimed to be pregnant and suffering stomach pains. The two — ages 18 and 20 -- were immediately taken to a nearby hospital for observation, officials said.

This month alone, more than 60 people have been taken into custody in connection with a series of smuggling attempts along the coast.

On Sept. 15, two marine smuggling incidents — one off the coast of Windansea Beach in La Jolla and the other north of Mexican waters — resulted in the arrests of 27 people.

Less than a week earlier, on Sept. 9 and 10, another 26 people were arrested in connection with smuggling attempts off Mission Beach and Pacific Beach.
Border Patrol agents were also sent to investigate an incident in Pacific Beach on Sept. 6, after witnesses reported seeing dozens of people walking away from a beached fishing vessel.

As of August, smuggling incidents involving panga-style boats had jumped 70 percent over fiscal year 2017, according to CBP officials.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/...925-story.html

Fast track the pregnant ones BACK to Mexico!