1 dead, 11 hurt in suspected human smuggling operation near San Diego

One person died and nearly a dozen others were taken to the hospital early Thursday morning after a suspected human smuggling attempt in the waters off San Diego, according to local news reports.

The local Fox station indicated that a rescue boat pulled about 18 people off a vessel and out of surrounding waters about 5:30 a.m. local time near La Jolla, Calif.

here’s video of the panga… officials have it docked at Children’s Pool pic.twitter.com/6VY6RxJt7l

— Jacqueline Sarkissian (@JSarkissian) May 20, 2021

A spokesperson for San Diego Lifeguards confirmed the death of one person to Fox 5.

The incident is the second failed human smuggling report in the area in the past two weeks, according to NBC 7, which reported that 23 people were detained on board a small vessel by the U.S. Coast Guard last Monday near Point Loma.

The Department of Homeland Security announced a new initiative to combat human smuggling last month amid a surge in migration at the southern U.S. border, driven mostly from Central America.

In late April, a potential human smuggling operation was uncovered in Houston when 90 people were found by authorities huddling in a single residence.