Man one of 15 onboard pleasure craft
SAN DIEGO — Fifteen people, including a man previously convicted of rape, were arrested by U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) agents on Saturday afternoon.
arrested 15 migrants who were being
smuggled into the U.S. onboard.
At approximately 2:45 p.m. USBP agents were notified by Joint Harbor Operations Center (JHOC) that the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) had intercepted a vessel illegally entering the U.S. and requested assistance from USBP.
USCG personnel towed the pleasure craft style vessel to the Mission Bay Lifeguard Center, where USBP agents were waiting. Agents questioned the 15 people onboard, four women and 11 men, and determined all were Mexican nationals illegally present in the U.S. All 15 were arrested and transported to a nearby Border Patrol station for processing.
While conducting records checks for the 15 aliens, agents discovered that one of the men in the group had been convicted of rape in California and served three years in prison. Agents referred the 48-year-old Mexican national to the U.S. Attorney's Office for prosecution for illegal re-entry after deportation. The remaining 14 Mexican nationals were returned to Mexico.
"I am grateful for the diligence of all involved parties," said Chief Patrol Agent Aaron Heitke. "Our communities are now safer thanks to their efforts."
– CBP –
U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) is a member agency of the Regional Coordinating Mechanism (ReCoM). Participating DHS components include U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), CBP Air and Marine Operations (AMO), CBP Office of Field Operations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE’s) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), 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.