Two indicted in drownings of illegal immigrants

By Jeff McDonald, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 6:24 p.m.

SAN DIEGO — A federal grand jury on Thursday issued a 30-count indictment against two men accused of causing the deaths of two other men who drowned trying to sneak into the United States earlier this month.

The suspects were attempting to smuggle nearly two dozen people into the country by boat off Torrey Pines State Park early Jan. 16 when the 30-foot wooden fishing vessel capsized and the victims drowned, officials said.

A San Diego police officer heard screams for help about 4:10 a.m. and saw a number of people swimming to shore. A massive search-and-rescue operation that followed involved more than 100 responders from local, state and federal agencies.

Sixteen people were rescued and the bodies of a 34-year-old Mexican man and an 18-year-old man from Guatemala were recovered. None of the survivors had paperwork allowing them to enter the United States, officials said.

The suspects are Fernando Figueroa-Rodriguez, 50, and Javier Jimenez-Yucupicio, 45. They are scheduled to be arraigned in U.S. District Court on Tuesday.

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