Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wants
people smugglers put to the state sword…
Boat landings sure ain’t new on the sands of monied
beach towns from Malibu through Laguna and down to San
Diego.
Surfline cams often capture the inspired sight of migrants
beaching their panga, those familiar flat-bottomed skiffs that
originally designed by Yamaha for a World Bank project back in 1970
and named after the panga fish and disappearing into
the hills for new lives etc.
The latest, two nights ago, wasn’t so pretty.
A panga overloaded with
migrants capsized off Torrey Pines State Beach, San Diego, killing
three people, including a 14-year-old Indian boy, and leaving his
10-year-old sister missing, presumed dead.
The tragedy, which unfolded fifty clicks north of the US-Mex
border, has led to federal charges against two alleged people
smugglers, with prosecutors and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi
Noem seeking the death penalty—a rare and severe measure in human
trafficking cases.
The vessel, carrying 16 to 18 passengers, overturned at
six-thirts, spilling migrants into the 63-degree water. The San
Diego County Medical Examiner identified the deceased as the Indian
boy and two Mexican nationals, an 18-year-old and another man. Four
survivors, including the boy’s parents—the father now in a coma—and
a 16-year-old Mexican girl, were hospitalized.
Eight of nine initially missing migrants were later located in
Chula Vista, 50 clicks away. Hikers, a doctor, and lifeguards
attempted CPR on the shore, but rough seas thwarted rescue efforts.
The US Coast Guard, Border Patrol, and local agencies quit
searching for survivors late Monday.
Julio Cesar Zuniga Luna and Jesus Juan Rodriguez Leyva, arrested
at the scene, face charges of smuggling aliens for financial gain
and causing death, which carry a maximum penalty of death under the
Immigration and Nationality Act. Zuniga admitted expecting $3,000
for the operation, while Rodriguez received 4,000 pesos (~$200) for
expenses.
Three others—Melissa Jennelle Cota, Gustavo Lara, and Sergio
Rojas-Fregoso—face charges for transporting migrants.
Noem called the smugglers’ actions “callous,” emphasizing a
hardline stance as maritime smuggling rises, with 287 incidents in
San Diego County since October.
How you feel about icing crooks? I think, excellent in theory,
at least for premeditated murder and kid killers, but very
flawed in practice.
