People smuggling suspected as use

By Debbi Farr Baker
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metr ... 6boat.html
September 6, 2007

LA JOLLA – A boat believed to be used to smuggle people into the United States washed ashore in La Jolla yesterday morning.

Advertisement San Diego lifeguards were notified at 4:20 a.m. that the 24-foot skipjack was on Wipeout Beach, south of the lifeguard tower at Children's Pool, city lifeguard Lt. Andy Lerum said.
A homeless woman sleeping nearby told lifeguards that she saw about 10 people dressed in black come out of the water and run away, Lerum said.

Multiple federal agencies, including the Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection, were investigating. Immigration officials have launched a preliminary investigation to determine who owns the boat.

Agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's marine unit tried to board the vessel to search for evidence, but they were unable because the boat was taking a pounding from the surf and breaking apart.

“There were a rash of boats stolen from the San Diego area recently, and we're trying to determine if this is one of them,â€