A six-hour large-scale operation that started in San Diego on Friday and ended in Orange County resulted in the capture of four illegal aliens accused of smuggling illegals along the Mexico/California coastline.
According to Border Patrol, “The smuggling investigation leading to the arrests shifted into high gear at around 7 a.m. Friday after the Carlsbad Police Department located an abandoned panga-style boat near Ponto Beach in Carlsbad, Calif. Local authorities alerted federal agents from the Los Angeles Border Enforcement Security Task Force (LA BEST) and U.S. Border Patrol who had been tracking the movements of this smuggling organization for several weeks.”
Authorities reported that they were monitoring a van in a Ranch Palos Verdes neighborhood suspected of being involved with the smuggling ring. But they abandoned the vehicle surveillance at sunrise when nobody showed up.
“Investigators say the Ensenada-based vessel that came ashore in Carlsbad was originally supposed to make landfall farther north. However, the smugglers had to abort the plan after the boat developed engine trouble,” according to San Diego Border Patrol.
However, BP Agents caught a break when the panga-style boat came ashore in Carlsbad and authorities alerted LA BEST and Border Patrol who then resumed their surveillance and tracked a van to an Anaheim apartment complex.