Spike in Migrant Incidents Reported at San Diego’s Smuggler’s Corridor

Illicit drug trafficking and illegal immigration have recently surged along the so-called Smuggler’s Corridor, a stretch of Pacific coastal waters extending from Northern Baja California to Northern San Diego County beaches and bays. In four separate incidents during a recent three-day uptick in activity, some efforts by smugglers to bring narcotics and human cargo into the United States by boat failed. Others succeeded. And one U.S. citizen, a boat owner with reported previous involvement with smuggling, was found shot to death outside in his recreational vehicle near Rosarito.

Camp Pendleton, the sprawling 125,000-acre Marine Corps base, apparently tightened beach security enough to capture 22 suspected illegal immigrants as they tried to come ashore from a small boat July 16. Ten days earlier, a major security breach occurred when 18 suspected illegal immigrants were found wandering around the base. The group was discovered by base security forces July 6 after it apparently had been dropped off on the beach. The boat that was believed to have been used by smugglers to carry them to the U.S. was never located.

The latest Camp Pendleton apprehensions came after U.S. Border Patrol land units spotted a panga approaching the shore at about 3:30 a.m. Camp Pendleton security forces and Oceanside Harbor Police officers joined to arrest the suspects as they stepped off the boat. The group included 19 Mexican nationals, one Guatemalan and two Colombians, officials said.

On July 17, a U.S. citizen was found shot to death outside his mobile home near Baja Film Studios, 3 miles south of Rosarito. According to a San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper report, the body of 49-year-old Richard Berg Pontious was found at 7 a.m. Neighbors reported hearing what sounded like gunshots at approximately 4 a.m. The Oklahoma-born Pontious had a criminal record and had served two years in U.S. federal prison after convictions for marijuana sales and smuggling, a spokesman for the Baja California Attorney General’s Office told reporters. The longtime Baja California resident owned six pangas, officials said. Authorities found several bullet casings near the victim and are investigating whether the killing was tied to the drug trade.

One smuggler apparently succeeded in delivering illicit cargo via Smuggler’s Corridor. Just after daybreak July 17, San Diego city lifeguards received a report of an empty panga aground at Pacific Beach, south of Crystal Pier. The 24-foot panga contained 20 life vests, a strong indication the vessel had been used for smuggling illegal immigrants, authorities said. Border Patrol agents and local authorities were unable to find any suspects. Several beach area residents told agents they heard suspicious noises at approximately 3:30 a.m. The vessel was seized and impounded.

The following day, 17 Mexican nationals were arrested at Blacks Beach, shortly after a boat was discovered washed up on shore. The July 18 arrests occurred at approximately 1 a.m. after a Coast Guard patrol notified U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents that a suspicious boat was heading toward the shoreline north of Scripps Pier. Border Patrol agents arrived on the scene and found 13 men and four women hiding in nearby canyons. The group was transported to an area Border Patrol Station for processing and probable deportation. Efforts were being made to determine whether the suspected smuggler was among those arrested.

The Coast Guard, CBP and several other state and local agencies work together under the Maritime Unified Command, a collaborative law enforcement effort that focuses on the San Diego maritime domain. Under the command, agencies share intelligence, planning and operations in an effort to address the threat of transnational crime along the coastal border. Between Oct. 1, 2009 and June 30 of this year, nearly 600 foreign nationals were arrested in suspected maritime smuggling attempts, according to the CBP. Many area boaters believe that as least as many successful smuggling attempts go unnoticed and unreported.

The Log