DEL MAR — The Department of Justice has arrested and charged five individuals suspected of participating in a human smuggling operation that left at least three individuals dead, including a 14-year-old boy, after the boat capsized on Monday near Del Mar.
Around 6:30 a.m. on Monday, first responders with the Del Mar Lifeguard Station, San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, and Del Mar, Encinitas and Solana Beach fire departments responded to reports of the capsized vessel just north of Torrey Pines State Beach.
Officials discovered three deceased individuals and four survivors with injuries varying from minor to critical, who were transported to local hospitals. Survivors also told first responders that there were several individuals unaccounted for, with figures ranging from seven to nine.
According to the Department of Justice, the deceased individuals are Mexican nationals Gorgino Placido-Diaz and Marcos Lozada-Juarez, and a 14-year-old boy from India referred to as P.P.B. The boy’s 10-year-old sister was among the missing and is presumed dead, and the children’s parents are being treated in the hospital, per the DOJ.
“The drowning deaths of these children are a heartbreaking reminder of how little human traffickers care about the costs of their deadly business,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “We are committed to seeking justice for these vulnerable victims, and to holding accountable any traffickers responsible for their deaths.”
The Coast Guard searched over 520 nautical square miles for the remaining passengers using two aircrafts and two boats, but called off the search late Monday night. Border Patrol officers located eight missing individuals alive on land that same night.
On Tuesday, the DOJ confirmed that they had located and arrested a total of five people believed to be involved in the smuggling event.
According to two complaints filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, Julio Cesar Zuniga Luna and Jesus Juan Rodriguez Leyva were arrested on Monday and charged with bringing in migrants resulting in death and bringing in migrants for financial gain.
The two men confirmed that they had been hired to drive the boat from Popotla, Mexico, to San Diego as part of a human smuggling operation, and that they had fled after the boat overturned. They were arrested after their vehicle was located.
Later that night, Border Patrol agents identified two other vehicles involved in the smuggling events. Law enforcement successfully stopped and arrested three more suspects, identified as Melissa Jenelle Cota, Gustavo Lara and Sergio Rojas-Fregosa, and charged them with illegally transporting migrants.
In the vehicles, they also located eight individuals who were reported missing from the boat. However, the 10-year-old girl is still missing.
Several of the individuals told officers that they swam to shore after the boat overturned and got into waiting vehicles, which transported them to a building, according to the complaint.
A few of them also told officers they were trying to get to Los Angeles, and that they were paying between $10,000 and $13,000 to be smuggled by boat into the United States, the complaint continues.
Shawn Gibson, special agent in charge of Homeland Security investigations in San Diego, said the agency is working with the Border Patrol, Coast Guard, and other partners from the Marine Task Force to hold the suspects accountable.
“Human smuggling, regardless of the route, is not only illegal but extremely dangerous. Smugglers often treat people as disposable commodities, leading to tragic and sometimes deadly consequences, as we saw in this case,” said Gibson. “Yesterday’s heartbreaking events are a stark reminder of the urgent need to dismantle these criminal networks driven by greed.”
Rojas-Fregoso was also charged with being in the country illegally after being previously deported.
According to the City of Del Mar, one of the survivors indicated that there were 18 individuals aboard the vessel at the time of the incident. Eighteen life jackets were later recovered on the beach.
There have been hundreds of incidents of panga-style fishing boats spotted near or washing up on the San Diego County coast in recent years, oftentimes associated with human smuggling operations. In March 2023, at least eight people died after two migrant smuggling boats capsized near Black’s Beach.
