Baja California Sur natives Julio César Zúñiga and Jesús Ivan Rodríguez are accused of migrant smuggling by the United States Department of Justice.
This happened after the Coast Guard located an overturned boat off the coast of San Diego at approximately 6:30 a.m. on May 5.
The death toll from the accident was as follows:
- Three people dead.
- Four people with minor to severe injuries, including a 14-year-old girl.
- Seven people missing, including a 10-year-old girl.
According to initial Coast Guard investigations, the victims are presumed migrants who had hired the service to illegally cross the sea into the United States.
On the day of the accident, San Diego was under a weather alert due to adverse weather conditions.
The first person to report the accident was a doctor hiking in the area located 56 kilometers north of the Mexican border.
The doctor observed a group of six people resuscitating a patient on the beach.
He called 911, and medical personnel rushed to the shore of the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve to offer assistance.
San Diego police arrived at the same location and questioned the people. They explained that nine people were aboard a boat between 12 and 13 meters long.
“They weren’t tourists,” said Coast Guard Officer Chris Sappey after the incident was reported.
The South Californians, originally from Puerto San Carlos, Baja California Sur, were detained after assisting at least two of the four injured people and bringing them to the beach.
The Coast Guard implemented a land and air rescue operation after learning that seven people were missing, including a 10-year-old girl.
In the area where the boat was found capsized, 17 life jackets were found, suggesting that more people were on board.
The Coast Guard accuses the detainees of being members of a migrant smuggling ring.
Two charges have been filed so far:
The first is smuggling of persons resulting in death.
The second is smuggling of persons for financial gain.
The first carries a life sentence or the death penalty, and the second carries a 10-year prison sentence.
The relatives of Julio César Zúñiga and Jesús Iván Rodríguez asked the public this morning to share the case and raise awareness so that their relatives are not sentenced to death.
Their families stated that the two never fled the scene of the accident, as they could have done.
On the contrary, they helped the injured, even though they were also injured.
The Coast Guard has suspended the search for the seven missing persons, but is continuing its investigation to determine responsibility.
Source: metropolimx
