Smuggling boat found in Encinitas

By Union-Tribune
Thursday, April 15, 2010 at 8:54 a.m.

ENCINITAS — Eight people were taken into custody at Swami’s Beach early Thursday morning when a small panga came into shore shortly before 2 a.m., a Coast Guard official said.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Jason Ballesteros said eight people were found on the Encinitas beach and turned over to federal authorities. No further information was immediately available.

It was the fifth smuggling attempt by sea thwarted by authorities in the past week.

The discovery follows an attempt to smuggle 23 people in a panga at a beach near the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station early Wednesday.

In that case, Border Patrol agents on patrol spotted the boat as it was approaching the beach about 5:45 a.m. and saw four people exit the boat, which returned to sea. Vessels from Customs and Border Protection and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department closed in on the boat, which then turned back to shore. The 19 people were all captured on the beach and the boat was seized.

Seventeen males and six females were taken to the Border Patrol’s Imperial Beach Station and are expected to be deported, officials said.

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