Smuggling boat hits rocks; drugs still aboard

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By Angelica Martinez and Greg Gross
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS
April 22, 2008
SAN DIEGO – An 18-foot boat used to smuggle drugs washed ashore in Sunset Cliffs with marijuana still on board early yesterday, authorities said.

The Coast Guard received a call that a boat was in distress and hitting the rocks about 6 a.m., said Lauren Mack, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. When authorities arrived, the boat had been abandoned. Investigators removed about 20 bales of marijuana of varying sizes found inside, Mack said.
The boat then was pulled off the rocks at the bottom of the cliffs. It was heavily damaged and sank soon after about 150 yards from the rocks, leaving a trail of debris in the water.
Among the debris were dozens of bales of marijuana that fell off the boat when it capsized, Mack said. A total of 111 bales were collected, weighing 362 pounds.
Mack said no arrests had been made.
It was the latest incident in a surge of smuggling boats found along the county coast.
Last week, two abandoned boats believed to have been used for smuggling drugs and people washed ashore.
One was found at Torrey Pines State Beach. Mack said that boat did not have drugs on board, but authorities believe it had been used to smuggle narcotics. A second boat was found in the surf along the Silver Strand in Coronado. Authorities suspect that boat was used for human smuggling.
In March, 15 people were found in a boat about 20 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border and 15 miles west of Mission Bay.
At the time, Mack estimated there had been 20 similar attempts by smugglers to use boats to bring illegal immigrants into the United States over the past eight months. The boats were found at the beach or a short distance off the coast.

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