At 4:40 a.m., an agent spotted a 30-foot Panga boat while conducting patrol duties at South Carlsbad State Beach. Once the boat arrived ashore, the agent observed 20 individuals exit the boat as two individuals pushed the boat back onto the water and departed the area.
Additional agents responded to the scene and detained 15 males and five females, all of whom were wearing life vests. The agents determined that the individuals are Mexican nationals illegally in the country.
Among the group of arrestees, agents identified a male suspect who may be in involved with smuggling the group once the boat arrived ashore.
After the arrest, the U.S. Coast Guard, along U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine personnel searched for the Panga boat and two suspected smugglers. Coast Guard personnel and CBP Air Interdiction agents spotted the southbound boat as it traveled into Mexican waters.
This coordinated, multi-agency effort demonstrates enhanced response capabilities to maintain a bolstered enforcement posture along the coastal border in the San Diego region.
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.
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/07172009_2.xml
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