Smugglers Take To The Seas, Authorities Respond

Drug and immigrant smugglers are taking to the seas, specifically the Pacific Ocean, in the face of stepped-up enforcement on the ground there. The Los Angeles Times reported that the stepping up for enforcement began in 2007 and now smugglers are taking to the seas as far north from the border (San Diego/Tijuana) as Huntington Beach — which is 90 miles north of San Diego by land! Here’s more from the story:

Similar scenes are playing out with increasing frequency along the Southern California coast as smugglers launch more immigrant and drug-filled vessels than ever before toward the state — about one every three days on average. Vessels still land at San Diego-area beaches but are also traveling as far north as Huntington Beach and Newport Beach. Drug smugglers venturing even farther have been caught on Catalina Island and Santa Rosa Island, off the Santa Barbara coast.

Last year, 867 illegal immigrants and smugglers were arrested at sea or along the California coast, more than double the number in 2009. Border authorities have had to redeploy agents from the land border to the coast, where they scan the ocean with night-vision goggles and give chase across dunes instead of fields.

This is a pretty incredible story, for more check it out here.

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