An empty powerboat was found washed up on La Jolla shores Tuesday morning, the most recent in a string of boats found ashore in San Diego County, many of which have been connected to human smuggling incidents, authorities say.
San Diego Lifeguards and U.S. Border Patrol agents responded after the vessel was discovered at sunup Tuesday.
It was unclear when the boat may have washed ashore and who may have been on it. Investigators were unable to determine if the boat was used for human smuggling, U.S. Border Patrol said.
In the last eight days, there have been about a half-dozen human smuggling attempts, where migrants use a small boat to try to cross illegally into the U.S. from Baja California, Mexico.
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On Sunday morning, a small boat known as a panga was found capsized near the Ocean Beach Pier. At least one person, and likely a second, died in what was believed to be an attempt to cross illegally into the U.S. from Mexico. Another three people were injured.
A second boat was stopped hours later, according to CBP. At around 3 a.m. on Sunday, CBP Air and Marine Operations intercepted a boat with 15 people on board near Point Loma. CBP said 15 people on board were attempting to enter the U.S. illegally and were detained.
Last Monday, three separate panga boats carrying 72 migrants were also spotted in Point Loma, CBP said. All were taken into custody and taken to nearby Border Patrol stations to be processed.
