22 illegal immigrants seized off San Diego coast

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Federal agents yesterday seized a 26-foot boat carrying 22 illegal Mexican immigrants off the San Diego coast, reports Molly Hennessy-Fisk.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents stopped the blue-and-white fishing boat at 3:30 a.m. about a mile west of city-owned Torrey Pines Golf Course, officials said in a news release.

Agents fired two warning shots before the boat’s operator surrendered. No one was injured, officials said. Agents found 16 men and six women from Mexico on board, all wearing life vests and in good condition. Investigators later determined they were in U.S. waters illegally.

Agents seized the boat, which did not have any registration markings, and held two of the men for possible criminal prosecution. Three of the other men will remain in the U.S. as witnesses, and the others were turned over to the U.S. Border Patrol for possible return to Mexico, officials said.

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-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City