Sixteen undocumented migrants traveling in a small boat were intercepted early Monday on the coast of San Diego, California.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) warned in a statement that
it is a dangerous practice that is on the rise
.
The incident occurred around 3:00 am local time when San Diego Sector Border Patrol agents observed a suspicious vessel traveling without navigation lights towards the US coast.
[This was the operation that rescued 206 migrants in two coyote houses in Mexico]
The agents notified the Coast Guard, which managed to intercept the boat where the 16 migrants, all men, were traveling.
The group of undocumented immigrants was made up of 15 Mexicans and one Chinese, according to CBP.
File image of two Border Patrol boats. CBP
The border authorities highlighted that the maritime smuggling of immigrants is "inherently dangerous."
They were traveling in
a type of vessel known as a
panga
, which is commonly used by smugglers to cross people illegally from Mexico to the United States.
On May 2, a panga capsized off the coast of San Diego with more than 30 illegal immigrants on board, killing three people.
At least five of the 28 surviving passengers were taken to the hospital.
At least three dead in the wreck of a boat with migrants off the coast of California
May 3, 202101: 53
"As CBP strengthens its border security on land, criminal organizations are turning to the ocean for their illegal activities, which is very dangerous," said Agent Aaron M. Heitk, of the Border Patrol in the San Sector. Diego, he assured this Monday.
In May, migrant arrests at the US-Mexico border reached another all-time high with more than 180,034 people detained, a 1% increase from April when just over 178,000 apprehensions were recorded.
This is the third consecutive month in which the arrest mark has been broken at the southwestern border.
In March there were 173,348 arrests.
[The governor of Texas announces that he will build a wall on the border with Mexico]
Most of the arrests correspond to adults traveling alone, more than 121,000.
Which is an increase over the 111,000 single adults in the previous month.
The arrival of unaccompanied minors declined again in April and May, after nearly 19,000 arrests of unaccompanied children were reported in April.
In May, 10,756 encounters were registered.
With information from EFE.