Thread: Two used dive scooters to enter U.S., CBP says

Two used dive scooters to enter U.S., CBP says

By Susan Shroder
Originally published February 3, 2011 at 11:44 p.m., updated February 4, 2011 at 9:30 a.m.

A man and a teenage boy who federal authorities said used self-propelled underwater dive scooters to illegally enter the United States were arrested Wednesday night in Imperial Beach.

They were spotted about 8:45 p.m. by the crew of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection airplane, CBP officials said Thursday.

They had been walking north on the beach, south of Seacoast Drive, carrying the dive scooters. U.S. Border Patrol agents who responded said the two, ages 38 and 16, were trying to conceal themselves in the sand. They were wearing wetsuits.

They were taken to a Border Patrol station for processing.

susan.shroder@uniontrib.com • (619) 293-1876

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011 ... -cbp-says/

Related thread http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-226992.html

C.B.P. News Release

Men Arrested on California Beach for Illegal Entry Using Dive Scooters

(Thursday, February 03, 2011)

San Diego — Border Patrol agents arrested two male Mexican nationals last night in Imperial Beach, Calif., after the two used self-propelled underwater devices to illegally enter the United States by sea.

At about 8:45 p.m., the crew of a Customs and Border Protection Office of Air and Marine aircraft spotted two suspicious subjects in wetsuits who were carrying dive scooters. The males were walking north on the beach, south of Seacoast Drive. Border Patrol agents responded to the scene and encountered two individuals attempting to conceal themselves by lying in the sand.

Agents questioned the males, a 38-year-old and a 16-year-old, and arrested them after determining they were Mexican nationals who had used the dive scooters to illegally enter the United States. Agents transported the two to a local Border Patrol station for processing.

CBP is a member agency of the Maritime Unified Command comprised of the U.S. Coast Guard, CBP Office of Air & Marine, Immigration and Customs Enforcement as well as state and local law enforcement partners operating in the San Diego and Orange County maritime domain. The Maritime Unified Command utilizes the fusion of intelligence, planning and operations to target the threat of transnational crime along the coastal border.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

Contacts For This News Release
San Diego Sector
CBP Public Affairs
Phone: (619) 216-4182 or

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/new ... 2011_2.xml