Five people were charged after a boat carrying migrants overturned Monday near San Diego, killing a 14-year-old boy from India and at least two others, authorities said.
The group, all Mexican nationals, was charged in two federal complaints, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California said in a news release on Tuesday.
They have been identified as Jesus Ivan Rodriguez-Leyva, 36; Julio Cesar Zuniga-Luna, 30; Melissa Jennelle Cota, 33; Gustavo Lara, 32; and Sergio Rojas-Fregoso, 31.
Zuniga-Luna and Rodriguez-Leyva were arrested Monday on charges of bringing in aliens resulting in death and bringing in aliens for financial gain, the attorney’s office said. They were found at a beach in Del Mar where witnesses observed the overturned panga-style boat.
Cota, Lara and Rojas-Fregosa — who officials said had previously been deported in December 2023 — were charged with transportation of illegal aliens.
The Coast Guard, lifeguards and sheriff’s deputies assisted in the search. Three bodies, including the teen, were recovered by law enforcement.
Four others were rescued and hospitalized, including the teen’s mother and father, who is in a coma, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
It was initially believed that nine people were missing from the boat. Eight of them were found Monday night after Border Patrol agents found a vehicle in Chula Vista, California, that had been at the scene of the smuggling incident.
“The driver of the vehicle fled the scene. During the investigation, Border Patrol Agents identified two other vehicles that were involved in the smuggling event and were able to successfully stop and arrest the drivers of these load vehicles and locate eight of the nine migrants missing from the boat,” the news release states.
The remaining missing person is the teen’s 10-year-old sister who is believed to be still missing at sea and presumed dead, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
“The drowning deaths of these children are a heartbreaking reminder of how little human traffickers care about the costs of their deadly business,” U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon said in a statement. “We are committed to seeking justice for these vulnerable victims, and to holding accountable any traffickers responsible for their deaths.”
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