Incidents show rising use of personal water craft by human traffickers
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Two incidents this week at the U.S. border show one of the latest methods of smuggling people into this country without documentation: by personal water craft.
Before dawn Thursday, Border Patrol agents found a 32-year-old Mexican national hiding along the rocks at Imperial Beach. He’d been dropped off by a smuggler operating a personal water craft, officials said. He was taken into custody without incident.
On Sunday night, a 34-year-old man and 19-year-old woman, both Mexican nationals, were found on the beach near the Navy SEALs training area in Coronado, officials said. Each was wearing a wetsuit.
The two were arrested. The operator of the personal water craft had fled.
In many cases, the immigrants are forced to swim to shore as the smugglers flee.
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