Federal Officers Interdict Suspected Smuggling Boat Off Newport Beach; 14 Taken Into Custody
NEWPORT BEACH — Newport Beach is a city in Orange County, California. The U.S. Department of Justice announced that U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations, working with the Border Patrol, interdicted a suspected smuggling boat off Newport Beach Harbor on the morning of October 3, finding 14 Mexican nationals aboard. According to the Justice Department, officers on maritime patrol stopped the vessel after observing suspicious activity and took those aboard into custody for investigation.
Prosecutors charged a defendant identified as Castro-Duenas with attempted alien smuggling. The complaint states he was previously deported in 2008 and has a 2007 smuggling-related conviction for which he served about 13 months. The case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rosalind Wang; the charge carries a statutory maximum of 12 years.
The Justice Department stressed that a complaint contains allegations only and that the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. Federal agencies warn that maritime smuggling along the Southern California coast remains common and extremely dangerous, with overloaded boats and nighttime crossings repeatedly turning deadly.
Federal agencies say maritime smuggling off Southern California has grown in recent years, with smugglers typically using small fishing boats that land passengers on remote beaches at night or before dawn and then speed off; the boats are overloaded and carry no safety gear, and capsizings and drownings have occurred repeatedly. People brought ashore are normally given medical screening and identity checks, then processed under immigration and criminal procedures, while boat operators and organizers face criminal charges. The Coast Guard and customs officials ask boaters and residents who spot suspicious vessels to report them on marine emergency channels or to local law enforcement. Prosecutors said the defendant's next court date will be posted when scheduled, with custody and bail to be decided by a federal magistrate judge at arraignment.
Photo: Newport Harbor at sunset, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, Don Ramey Logan
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：停泊在新港滩海岸警卫站的美国海岸警卫队「独角鲸」号巡逻艇。摄影：Chris English，CC BY-SA 3.0，来源：Wikimedia Commons
