Immigrant Boat Crashes Into South California Beach [Video]


A boat of suspected illegal immigrants were detained earlier this week after they crashed their boat onto the beach in San Clemente, California.

Witnesses on the bluffs in the Southern California town noticed the boat racing toward the show around noon on Monday, reports The Los Angeles Times.

The witnesses also saw people jumping out of the boat and running, though they were chased down by the authorities. Tyler Rook was able to capture the whole incident on his phone’s camera. Rooke recalled:

“All the sudden, we see a boat coming close to shore and it just so happened there was a set of waves coming through too. We thought he was riding it and then he all the sudden just beached the boat and then waves just started annihilating the boat. Bodies were just running out left and right.”

One of the men in the boat was injured and a woman who ran at first returned to stand by him. Spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Amber Cargile stated that several people were detained during the incident, which appeared to be a professional smuggling operation.

KTLA notes that lifeguards were the first to arrive after the boat crashed, followed by Orange County sheriff’s deputies, who chased the men running from the crash. Most of the men were caught by officers, but it is not yet clear how many people were in custody.

Department of Homeland Security agents also told Rooke that narcotics were found around the boat, although they declined to say what kind. The immigrant boat crashing into the beach highlights the increasing trend of illegal immigrants coming to California by sea instead of crossing the land border.

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