Boat with Hull Spray-Painted Black Doesn’t Deter CBP from Stopping Boat Off San Diego Coast

SAN DIEGO – U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine agents stopped a boat just west of Coronado with ten people on board trying to enter the U.S. illegally early Wednesday.

At about 1:30 a.m. on June 10, the San Diego Joint Harbor Operations Center (JHOC) contacted CBP Air and Marine Operations (AMO) regarding a boat traveling from Mexican waters into U.S. territorial waters.

“It’s dangerous to travel on a crowded boat, out at sea, with no lights, and these smugglers took the added step of spray-painting the hull black so they would be difficult to spot at night,” said Christopher Hunter, Deputy Director of Marine Operations for CBP in San Diego.  “Smuggling organizations aren’t considering anyone’s safety when these make these illegal attempts, only what profits they can try to make.”

CBP AMO sent a multi-role enforcement aircraft to the area, and the crew was able to spot the boat, traveling with no lights out at sea, with multiple people on board. 

The crew aboard the aircraft contacted the crew aboard a CBP coastal interceptor boat and directed them to the area to make contact with the suspected smuggling boat. 

The agents spotted the open hull pleasure boat traveling without lights, just west of Coronado, with the hull of the boat spray-painted black.  Agents confirmed that the ten people aboard were all trying to enter the U.S. illegally.

Agents brought the boat and occupants to the dock, where they turned over the ten men to U.S. Border Patrol agents for processing.

U.S. Border Patrol agents processed the men, all Mexican citizens ages 18-55, for return to Mexico.  CBP marine interdiction agents seized the boat.

If you have information about maritime smuggling or suspicious activity along the coast of California, please call 9-1-1, and you will be directed through the proper channels.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is a member agency of the Regional Coordinating Mechanism (ReCoM). Other members include federal, and state and local law-enforcement agencies operating in Southern California.  The ReCoM utilizes intelligence, planning, and joint operations to target the threat of transnational crime along the coastal border.