Eight migrants thought lost at sea found alive in southern California

Migrants study a map of the United States in San Diego, Calif., on Oct. 6, 2023. (Gregory Bull / AP Photo)

LOS ANGELES - Eight migrants thought to have been lost at sea off California after their boat capsized, have been found alive, ending a human smuggling drama that left four people dead, including two children from the same Indian family, U.S. officials said on Tuesday.

U.S. Border Patrol agents found the eight migrants at an inland transit point, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Diego. The group had been taken there in three vehicles from the beach at Del Mar having made it ashore when the small boat overturned on Monday morning, it said.

A ninth missing migrant, a 10-year-old girl from India, remained unaccounted for and was presumed to have died at sea, federal prosecutors said.

Emergency teams recovered the body of her 14-year-old brother, as well as two other people who drowned, soon after the panga-style boat capsized. Four others, including the children’s parents, were rescued from the surf and taken to hospitals. The father was in a coma, prosecutors said.

The final outcome of the ordeal did not become clear until Tuesday when federal prosecutors filed court papers charging five Mexican nationals with taking part in a migrant smuggling scheme after the boat overturned and washed ashore near San Diego.

Due to apparent confusion on the ground and communication lapses among authorities, the Coast Guard initially reported there were seven people missing.

Panga-style boats are lightweight, open vessels usually powered by outboard motors.

The Border Patrol also tracked down and arrested the two men and a woman who allegedly drove the getaway vehicles. Two other men accused of having piloted and refuelled the smuggling boat were detained shortly after the vessel washed ashore.

The two accused pilots, identified as 36-year-old Jesus Ivan Rodriguez-Leyva and 30-year-old Julio Cesar Zuniga-Luna, were charged with “bringing in aliens resulting in death,” a capital offence, and “bringing in aliens for financial gain.”

The three alleged vehicle drivers - Melissa Jennelle Cota, 33, Gustavo Lara, 32, and Sergio Rojas-Fregoso, 31 - were all charged with transportation of illegal aliens, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said in a statement that she would ask the Justice Department to seek the death penalty against the two accused of piloting the boat.

“Maritime smuggling is not just illegal — it is a violent and inherently dangerous crime,” Noem said.

Hundreds of similar migrant crossing attempts have been documented by the Coast Guard at sea in the San Diego area annually in recent years.

(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Karen Freifeld in New York; Editing by David Gregorio and Kate Mayberry)

Article written by Steve Gorman, Reuters