Trying to out flank the border barriers

NY Times:

Three Mexican men were charged Friday with smuggling people into the United States after an ill-fated effort to ferry a dozen people to San Diego by boat from an island off Tijuana, Mexico, ended with the vessel adrift for nearly two days.

For years, smugglers have sought to bring people into the United States on boats in the Pacific Ocean, usually hiding among the bountiful pleasure craft off San Diego in the summer. People have also been caught trying to surf, use jet skis and swim in.

But the arrests this week, the authorities said, point to a troubling turn to the prospect of year-round smuggling; some 20 boats have been intercepted or found washed ashore on the San Diego County coast since August. Twenty-six people have been apprehended in those cases, but several more probably made it to their destinations: some have been observed by homeowners coming ashore and leaving their boats behind.

“We have never seen an increase like this in the off- or winter season,” said Michael Unzueta, the agent in charge of the San Diego office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Mr. Unzueta said that more elaborate security on the land border, rife with cameras, sensors and steel fences, was pushing smugglers east into remote terrain and west into the ocean. But it is also possible, he said, that the spike is the result of a newer organization long on ambition but short on marine skills.

Many of the boats, including the one found Wednesday 12 miles off the Point Loma area of San Diego, are old and barely seaworthy, Mr. Unzueta said. Unlike in previous maritime smuggling cases, he said, these latest boats have been left behind, probably bought cheaply and meant to be used only once with maintenance a low priority.

Based on accounts from the people being smuggled Wednesday, Mr. Unzueta said it appeared the smugglers’ plan was essentially to steer north as fast as possible. Little or no food or water were on board, and the boat, a 24-foot fishing vessel built in 1978, lacked safety and emergency equipment.

The authorities said the group began its journey on Monday by traveling on another boat to the Coronado Islands off Tijuana. There they crammed into the 24-foot boat, but the engine quit some 30 minutes into the trip.

They drifted for nearly two days until the crew of a pleasure boat spotted people waving and called a private towing company, which headed for the scene and alerted the authorities.

Customs and Border Protection agents found the boat on Wednesday morning and took all 15 people, 4 women and 11 men, into custody. All were Mexicans except for one Salvadoran woman. The group, ranging in age from 19 to 40, was thirsty, hungry and sunburned but not seriously harmed, officials said.

The migrants had agreed to pay up to $4,500 each to be smuggled, at least double the going rate by land. Upset because of their perilous journey, they quickly identified their smugglers, investigators said.

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Fences have a way of channeling traffic to areas that are more difficult to cross. That appears to be happening. Amphibious operations are probably not a well honed skill set for Mexican smugglers. It looks like the Coast Guard may need to put more resources in the San Diego area to deal with the problem. If they start catching them regularly it will have the same deterrent effect as the border fence has had.