Coast Guard intercepts boat with eight suspected migrants off Southern California

The United States Coast Guard intercepted a 21-foot vessel containing eight suspected illegal migrants approximately six miles off Point Loma on Tuesday night. The interception was initiated after watchstanders at the Joint Harbor Operations Center spotted the suspicious boat at 8:02 p.m. A boarding team from the Coast Guard Maritime Safety and Security Team Los Angeles/Long Beach detained the eight adults and transported them to Ballast Point, where they were handed over to U.S. Border Patrol agents for investigation.

This incident occurred shortly after a separate group of nearly a dozen suspected migrants reached Newport Harbor on Saturday. In that instance, a 20-foot boat struck and damaged a yacht before being abandoned, allowing the occupants to disappear into the surrounding Newport Beach neighborhood.