A man suspected of trying to smuggle two illegal immigrants into the country died Wednesday after being taken into custody by U.S. Customs agents, authorities said.
The 30-year-old man, whose name was not immediately released, was a U.S. citizen, said San Diego police Lt. Kevin Rooney. An autopsy was pending.
He was taken into custody late Tuesday after trying to drive a vehicle through the San Ysidro Port of Entry, Rooney said.
A Customs and Border Protection agent told the driver to pull into a secondary inspection area and later found two undocumented immigrants behind the back seat, Rooney said.
The driver, meanwhile, attempted to flee back across the Mexican border, he said, adding that officers used physical force to subdue him.
The man went into medical distress at the holding facility, Rooney said.
"His heart stopped beating so they gave him CPR," Rooney said, adding that the man later died at a hospital.
