One of 20 suspected illegal aliens died Thursday when a boat believed to be smuggling the group collided with a U.S. Border Patrol vessel off the coast of north San Diego County.
Officials say the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Air and Marine detected the panga boat in the early morning hours near Encinitas, California. The Seaside Courier cited a CBP report that agents tried to order the boat’s driver to halt, but the vessel continued.
The suspected smuggling boat, also known as a panga, failed to yield, moving the agents to fire warning shots, according to CBP spokesperson Jackie Wasiluk.
The panga collided with the CBP boat, capsizing and dumping the occupants into the water. Agents worked to rescue the group from the ocean, performing CPR on one unresponsive woman, Wasiluk conveyed.
The woman was airlifted to a hospital where she was pronounced dead.
15 of the remaining suspects were attended to at the scene and taken into custody, while four others were treated at a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries before also being taken into custody, a report said.
Human smugglers have been known to charge up to $10,000 to transport a foreign national into the United States off the coast of San Diego, according to agents who spoke with Breitbart News.
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