San Diego Border Patrol agents introduced their new Marine Unit after the sinking of a smuggling vessel off San Diego in May.
Specifically, in May three people died in a wreck off the coast of Point Loma, while another person died when a panga boat capsized off the shore of La Jolla.
An initial check by U.S. Border Patrol agents showe that all but one of the people on board were foreign nationals without authorization to enter the US. In addition, the vessel’s captain was the sole U.S. citizen aboard, and he was turned over to Homeland Security Investigations for questioning.
According to agents, in FY2020, there were 309 maritime incidents with 1,273 arrests. In FY2021, there have been 200 events with 1,260 arrests.
Now, Chief Patrol Agent Aaron Heitke says that the maritime apprehensions for FY2021 are certain to exceed the 1,273 apprehensions they had last year.
What is more, drug interceptions have gone down but smugglers are bringing in more dangerous drugs.
