Politics & Government
Human Smuggling Incident Early Sunday in Crystal Cove
Eleven people are arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol as they reach shore. Search is on for five who escaped.
Authorities caught 11 would-be immigrants as they made a beach landing at Crystal Cove State Park on Saturday, and five who got away
were being sought today.
A northbound panga that had been shadowed by the Navy and U.S. Coast Guard landed at Morro Beach about 5 a.m., with Border Patrol agents pursuing the 16 people who bailed out in the surf, the Orange County Register reported.
Those caught will be questioned by immigration agents and likely deported.
Find out what's happening in Newport Beach-Corona Del Marwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Related: Another Human Smuggling Incident in Laguna Beach
Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Sean Arumae said those who got away "were able to escape under the cover of heavy fog and darkness."
Find out what's happening in Newport Beach-Corona Del Marwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The incursion was just the latest of five in the past 72 hours, as seaborne smugglers continue to push north.
On Friday, a panga and about 200 pounds of pot were found abandoned on a Rancho Palos Verdes beach, but no one associated with the boat was found. On May 13, an abandoned panga was found at Bluff Cove in Palos Verdes Estates.
On Wednesday, 10 people were arrested in Malibu after being put ashore there.
Last year, 867 would-be immigrants and smugglers were arrested at sea or along the California coast, more than double the number in 2009.
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