(Photo: A boat that may have been used to smuggle people from Mexico into San Diego washes ashore in Del Mar. Amy Isackson/KPBS )
Another boat used to smuggle people from Mexico to the United States was abandoned on the beach in Del Mar Monday morning. It's the third boat to wash ashore in Del Mar during the last month and a half. KPBS reporter Amy Isackson has the story.
It’s become a familiar site early mornings at North Beach in Del Mar.
An abandoned boat floating in the surf with extra life jackets and fuel aboard, and snacks with labels written in Spanish. This time it was chocolate chip cookies.
Law enforcement officials say they detained eight people. All were Mexican.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Lauren Mack says her agency is investigating 15 similar incidents during the last seven months. She says smuggling by boat is nothing new.
Mack : Over time we've seen individuals brought in in fancy yachts. We've seen Chinese nationals hidden in smaller boats. But what is new is the method this organization or organizations is using.
The boats come ashore in the wee hours and are then abandoned.
Mack says it’s a Mexican organization smuggling Mexicans.
Amy Isackson, KPBS News.
