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Sixth Smuggling Boat Found Abandoned in Del Mar

By Amy Isackson / Border Reporter,  KPBS Public Broadcasting
Published March 3, 2008 at 1:14 PM PST
This story was published more than 16 years ago.

A sixth boat used to smuggle people and or drugs from Mexico to the U.S. was abandoned at the beach at dawn in Del Mar on Sunday. Del Mar lifeguards say it was the first night in two months that feder

A sixth boat used to smuggle people and or drugs from Mexico to the U.S. was abandoned at the beach at dawn in Del Mar on Sunday. Del Mar lifeguards say it was the first night in two months that federal officials did not do surveillance. KPBS reporter Amy Isackson has the story.

This time the boat was found abandoned at 11th street in Del Mar. That's about a mile and a half south of the previous five boats that came ashore starting last November.

Del Mar Lifeguard Chief Patrick Vergne says Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have staked out the beach since the fifth boat came ashore in January.

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However:

Vergne : They had not done surveillance Saturday evening or early Sunday morning, and that’s when the boat came in.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials will not comment on their ongoing investigation.

At the beach, Immigration officials questioned three Latino men who do beach maintenance for the City of Del Mar and came to help haul the boat away.

Officials determined the men were not connected to the smuggling operation, but arrested one for an immigration violation.

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Amy Isackson, KPBS News.

Amy Isackson
Amy Isackson was the border reporter at KPBS from 2004 to 2011. She covered breaking news and feature stories on California-Mexico border issues and immigration, for local and national broadcast. Amy got her start in public radio by pitching a series of stories about rural New Zealand - horse dentistry and sheep sheering - to Radio New Zealand's "Country Life" program. She then worked with Peabody Award-winning radio producers Nikki Silva and Davia Nelson, to help create the Sonic Memorial, a series of stories on the World Trade Center before, during and after 9/11. Amy's work has been recognized with awards from the Associated Press Television-Radio Association of California and Nevada, the California Chicano News Media Association, and the San Diego Press Club. She won the Sol Price Prize for Responsible Journalism in 2009 from the Society of Professional Journalists for her story about high school students smuggling people and drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border. Prior to venturing into the wonderful world of public radio, Amy worked for Yahoo! Inc. for nearly five years as an editorial surfer, associate producer and broadcast communications manager. She majored in Latin American History at Williams College. She grew up in San Diego and made frequent trips south of the border.
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