One woman died and several people were arrested after attempting to cross into the U.S. by swimming around the San Diego border barrier on Friday.
On Friday at around 11:40 p.m., U.S. Border Patrol agents received a notification of a group of possibly 70 attempting to swim across the border from Tijuana into the U.S. at Border Field State Park.
Once border agents arrived at the scene, they came across a woman who was unresponsive and believed she was part of the group of swimmers. The agents immediately performed CPR on the woman and requested the response of emergency medical services, but unfortunately, the woman was pronounced dead at around 12:30 a.m.
Border Patrol agents were able to locate 36 Mexican nationals who had swum around the border barrier. Twenty-five men and 11 women, including 13 people the U.S. Coast Guard rescued from the water. All 36 were taken into custody and transported to a nearby Border Patrol station, CBP said.
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“This is yet another example of the ruthless tactics smuggling organizations use to bolster their power and profits,” said San Diego Sector’s Chief Patrol Agent Aaron Heitke. “We will work tirelessly to pursue and bring to justice those responsible for this tragedy.”
No other information was released.
