IMPERIAL BEACH, Calif.Last night, U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested three women and a male juvenile on the north end of Coronado Silver Strand State Beach who had entered the U.S. illegally by jet ski.
The incident began at approximately 10 p.m., when Border Patrol agents observed two jet skis crossing from Mexico into the U.S. As the jet skis passed the Imperial Beach Pier, the Joint Harbor Operations Center notified a Coast Guard cutter in the area. The two jet-ski operators dropped off four individuals at this beach north of the pier and fled back to Mexico.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Air and Marine launched a helicopter to perform an aerial search for the two jet-ski operators. Concurrently, Border Patrol agents responded to the Imperial Beach drop off area and located four individuals involved in the event.
An immigration inspection revealed that the three women, who were ages 18 to 40, and the 15-year-old male were all illegally present in the U.S. They were transported to a nearby Border Patrol station for processing.
The U.S. Border Patrol in collaboration with Federal, state, and local law-enforcement agencies coordinate operations through the Regional Coordinating Mechanism (ReCoM) to address the transnational maritime threat along the Southern California coast. The ReCoM mission is to increase homeland security by eliminating transnational crime along the coast. The Joint Harbor Operations Center (JHOC) in San Diego is the tactical command center for ReCoM.
If you have information about maritime smuggling or suspicious activity along the coast of California, please contact the Joint Harbor Operations Center at 1-800-854-9834.
Source: U.S. Border Patrol
