OCEANSIDE — The U.S. Coast Guard intercepted a cabin cruiser involved in an apparent human-smuggling attempt gone awry off the coast of Oceanside on Tuesday, taking 19 suspected undocumented immigrants into custody.
Crew members of the USCG cutter David Duren boarded the 25-foot private boat about 25 miles offshore from northern San Diego County at about 2:15 a.m. on April 22, the federal maritime agency reported.
All of the occupants of the boat – 18 men and a woman – claimed Mexican nationality, according to USCG public affairs.
Though they reported that they had not had food or water for two days, preliminary medical
evaluations uncovered no “major medical concerns” among members of the traveling group, Coast Guard officials stated.
The crew of the cutter brought the detainees to Oceanside, where they were transferred to the custody of the U.S. Border Patrol.
The incident is the latest in a series of apparent maritime human-smuggling attempts along the San Diego coastline.
In February, the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted 13 migrants aboard a panga-style vessel approximately 22 miles west of Encinitas. Earlier that same month, a boat carrying several people washed ashore in Ocean Beach.
In January, the Coast Guard stopped a panga boat with 15 migrants off Point Loma, and weeks later, Oceanside lifeguards discovered a panga-style vessel carrying 26 people that had run out of fuel about a mile off the coast near the harbor.
The Coast News contributed to this report.
