A panga discovered along San Diego's coast is connected to a van in a smuggling investigation officials told NBC 7 San Diego.
The boat was on the beach near Del Mar according to lifeguards. The boat's location is west of the area where officers arrested more than a dozen people earlier Monday.
San Diego police spotted a van parked near southbound Interstate 5 and Carmel Valley Road around 4:30 a.m.
Inside the van, investigators found more than a dozen passengers and one driver.
The occupants had wet shoes and pants as if they had just gotten out of a boat and loaded into the van officers said.
Lifeguards have been told not to speak to the media about the abandoned boat on Del Mar's coast.
The case is being handed over to U.S. Border Patrol.
