The incident appears to be related to a migrant smuggling operation, a crime that has been on the rise in the region, according to Eric Lavergne, special operations supervisor with the U.S. Border Patrol in San Diego.
The incident was reported by a Spanish-speaking individual, who called the emergency services to report boats in distress off the coast of Black’s Beach.
The San Diego emergency crews responded immediately, but hazardous weather conditions made the rescue effort more difficult. When they arrived, they found two fishing boats capsized in a 400-foot area, and the bodies of eight adults were retrieved from the water and the beach.
According to San Diego Fire-Rescue Lifeguard Division Chief James Gartland, “This is one of the worst smuggling tragedies that I can think of in California, certainly here in the city of San Diego.” The nationalities of the victims were not known at the time of the incident.
Migrant smuggling has become a persistent problem in the San Diego region. Eric Lavergne, who tracks these cases for the Border Patrol, stated that this was one of a few hundred smuggling events recorded in his jurisdiction this fiscal year, which is on par with recent years. The smugglers use a variety of methods, including panga fishing boats. In this case, the hazardous weather conditions likely made the operation even more dangerous.
