NEW YORK: Federal agents seized a small pleasure craft crowded with 15 Mexican nationals off the coast of Point Loma Friday evening and arrested the driver of the boat on suspicion of smuggling.
Authorities announced Monday that a U.S. Customs and Border Protection crew on patrol in a plane spotted the 23-foot cuddy cabin boat — called the Pressure Valve — off the coast, about four miles south of Point Loma, and guided the crew of a 39-foot interceptor vessel known as a Midnight Express to it.
With a helicopter providing an overhead spotlight, agents aboard the Midnight Express arrived and stopped the Pressure Valve. The federal agents saw immediately that the boat was overloaded with people and contacted a nearby U.S. Coast Guard vessel.
Crew members from a Coast Guard cutter transported the 15 people aboard the vessel to the dock at the Ballast Point. U.S. Border Patrol agents took the 15 people to the San Ysidro port of entry, where they were turned over to Customs and Border Protection officers.
Among the 15 people were eight men, one 15-year-old boy and six women, including one who was pregnant. All were determined to be Mexican nationals without legal status to enter the U.S. None required immediate medical attention, and all appeared to be in good health.
Agents identified the suspected driver of the vessel, who will face federal charges related to the smuggling attempt, authorities said.
