(NewsNation) — The Border Patrol is stepping up its presence near the boundary between California and Mexico amid a surge of human smugglers attempting to enter the U.S. from the sea.
Early Wednesday morning near San Clemente, California, marine interdiction units intercepted a panga-style boat carrying 17 Mexican nationals. The San Diego Marine Unit swiftly deployed a marine crew and intercepted the vessel at 2:40 a.m. Those 17 individuals were then turned over to the Border Patrol.
These types of smuggling incidents on panga-style boats often turn deadly. On Monday, federal officials charged a man believed to be a captain of a panga boat that was carrying migrants when it capsized, killing four people, according to The Associated Press. The boat capsized near Imperial Beach, California, with survivors telling officials the boat had engine problems, but the captain refused to return to Mexico. The captain now faces life in prison if convicted.
Agents in other coastal regions are also seeing an uptick in maritime smuggling. This week, the Border Patrol released a video of agents interdicting a smuggling vessel carrying 16 Dominican nationals off the coast of Puerto Rico.
To shore up security, San Clemente is set to install Border Patrol thermal imaging cameras to monitor vessel activity in the ocean. Over the last 18 months, there have been 30 reported landings of panga boats on shores in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, with 18 of those in San Clemente, according to the Los Angeles Times.