Border Patrol launches new unit targeting human, drug smuggling attempts by sea

The Border Patrol in San Diego has reestablished a marine unit focused on intercepting smugglers who bring migrants and drugs into the United States by sea, the federal agency announced Tuesday.

The launch comes during a recent increase in marine smuggling attempts, at least two of which in San Diego have been fatal for migrants trying to cross the southern border into the U.S. illegally.

Two 25-foot Secure Around Floatation Equipped (SAFE) boats staffed with three specially-trained Border Patrol agents on each vessel officially took to water June 6. Each double-engine boat has about 450 horsepower and can get up to 43 knots per hour on the water, according to the agency.

The unit will work with the Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security’s Air and Marine Operations “as a force multiplier” to prevent and respond to illegal smuggling along the coastline of Southern California, said Aaron Heitke, chief patrol agent of Border Patrol in San Diego, at a news conference Tuesday morning.

During a news conference, Border Patrol authorities show members of the media a 25-foot SAFE boat that will be used by the agency’s reestablished San Diego Marine Unit.

(Eduardo Contreras/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Agents within the unit will conduct patrols at times and in locations where smuggling landings have been common, Heitke said. They will also talk to fisherman and local boaters about suspicious activities they might have witnessed.

According to the Border Patrol, agents have investigated smuggling attempts that include bringing people into the county on small boats, personal watercraft, underwater propulsion devises and by swimming.

Since launching the marine unit, the Border Patrol has not reported any smuggling attempts, but officials say they are expecting a busy summer — when illegal maritime activities usually go up — especially after over a year of increased smuggling events in Southern California.

From fiscal year 2019 to 2020, Department of Homeland Security apprehensions in the region have increased 93 percent, and that trend has continued into 2021, Heitke said. So far this year, the agency apprehended 1,232 people in marine smuggling attempts. That number will likely surpass the previous year’s record with still three months left in the fiscal year, Heitke said.

Public Safety

Authorities find panga with 20 on board off San Diego coast

The small vessel was discovered late Sunday night off the coast of La Jolla with 12 men and eight women on board

June 22, 2021

The more than 1,200 people apprehended this year includes dozens of migrants injured and rescued off the coasts of Point Loma and La Jolla during botched human smuggling attempts where several died in dangerous waters offshore.

“As we have seen in recent events where lives have tragically been lost, (transnational criminal) organizations treat smuggled people as a commodity, showing little to no regard for the lives of those they are exploiting for profit,” Heike said.

In early May, three Mexican nationals died in the waters near Cabrillo National Monument after an open hull fishing trawler-style boat crashed and splintered open on a rocky reef, tossing dozens of migrants on-board into large surf.

Bystanders at the nearby tide pools called for help, some rescued migrants drowning in the water, and ultimately over 100 emergency personnel responded in the rescue effort. A U.S. citizen was charged and pleaded not guilty to attempting to smuggle immigrants into the U.S. for financial gain and resulting in death.

By the end of the month, another person died in a human smuggling attempt intercepted in La Jolla where a panga holding over a dozen migrants capsized near the shore. Lifeguards used boats and a rescue board to bring 10 migrants to safety and a total of 15 were taken into Border Patrol custody.

Beside human smuggling, the new unit will also target drug smuggling from Mexico into U.S. waters, which has become more concerning as dangerous drugs like cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and fentanyl replace marijuana in illegal drug smuggling rings, Heitke said.

The Border Patrol in San Diego previously had a marine fleet, but it was dissolved in 2007 when Air and Marine Operations of DHS took over patrolling marine activities, according to Kurt Kantura, a supervisor agent for Border Patrol.

Now, it’s coming back and Kantura and other agents hopes to expand the unit by adding additional vessels and staff in the future.

“We’ve been having way too many incidents at sea that cause loss of life, injury, things like that, so the more assets we have out there being able to either deter that or respond to that immediately… the better,” Kantura said.