US Coast Guard law enforcement crews detected and interdicted a Mexican lancha boat crew engaged in illegal fishing in US waters, off southern Texas, on Sunday morning.
As informed, the Coast Guard crews stopped one lancha with a total of five Mexican fishermen onboard engaged in illegal fishing. One lancha boat, with fishing gear onboard, was seized. The Mexican fishermen were detained and transferred to border enforcement agents for processing.
A lancha is a fishing boat used by Mexican fishermen that is approximately 20-30 feet long with a slender profile, typically has one outboard motor, and is capable of traveling at speeds exceeding 30 mph. Lanchas are frequently used to transport illegal narcotics to the US and fish illegally in the United States’ Exclusive Economic Zone near the US/Mexico border in the Gulf of Mexico, according to data provided by USCG.
Since 1 October 2017, the US Coast Guard Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi has detected 159 lanchas, 46 of which were interdicted, that were north of the US-Mexico Maritime Border.
