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() Reports of human smuggling by ocean have jumped tenfold in San Diego in recent years.
Panga-style boats, or small, low-slung fishing boats, are usually used by illegal immigrants entering the U.S. from Baja California, Mexico.
The most recent case from Mission Bay Beach occurred early Sunday morning when the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted a 25-foot panga-style vessel carrying 16 people about 15 miles off the coast of Mission Bay.
The U.S. Coast Guard reported the suspicious vessel around midnight and launched a joint operation with U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations. Upon boarding the vessel, the crew discovered 16 individuals aboard all of whom were Mexican nationals.
They were safely transferred to the U.S. Border Patrol agents for further processing. Last week, there was another smuggling attempt intercepted by the Coast Guard 20 miles off the coast of Point Loma.
U.S. Border Patrol notified Coast Guard personnel of a panga-style vessel heading northbound. The U.S. Coast Guard intercepted the vessel, and upon boarding, discovered 14 illegal immigrants from Mexico, who were then transferred to U.S. Border Patrol custody.
In a press release, the Coast Guard said: “The Alien Migrant Interdiction Operations (AMIO) mission provides effective law enforcement presence at sea and achieves three main objectives: Deter undocumented migrants and transnational smugglers from using maritime routes to enter the U.S.; detect and interdict undocumented migrants and smugglers far from the U.S. border.”
This comes as the Coast Guard has directed additional resources and assistance for maritime smuggling under President Trump’s latest executive order.
Under orders from President Donald Trump, the U.S. military is coordinating with federal partners to remove illegal foreign nationals, and the U.S. Coast Guard has expanded operations nationwide.
Its current role is “to assist with the national transport of aliens to designated locations in Texas and California, where the Department of Defense will transport the aliens internationally,” it says.
The U.S. Coast Guard says they’ll continue conducting anti-smuggling operations off the coast of San Diego beaches to prevent illegal immigrants from reaching the shore.
