SAN DIEGO — A small vessel believed to be carrying migrants capsized off the Southern California coast early Monday, leaving three people dead and nine others missing in one of the region’s deadliest recent maritime incidents involving suspected human smuggling.
The 20-foot panga-style boat overturned just after sunrise near Torrey Pines State Beach, approximately 35 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, according to U.S. Coast Guard officials. Four survivors were rescued and transported to nearby hospitals with injuries, while search operations continue for the missing.
U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Chris Sappey confirmed that the boat is believed to have been carrying migrants, not tourists. The vessel resembled the type of open fishing boats commonly used by smugglers to evade land-based border enforcement.
“They were not tourists,” Sappey said. “They are believed to be migrants.”
Witnesses reported the capsizing around 6:30 a.m., prompting a rapid emergency response from multiple agencies, including Border Patrol, U.S. Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Encinitas Fire Department. A Coast Guard helicopter and rescue boat have been deployed in the ongoing search.
Lt. Nick Backouris of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said beachgoers and hikers witnessed the capsizing, with at least one off-duty doctor attempting to provide CPR to victims. “A doctor hiking nearby called in and said, ‘I see people doing CPR on the beach, I’m running that way,’” he said.
Dangerous sea routes grow deadlier for migrants
Migrants have increasingly resorted to maritime routes to bypass heavily fortified land borders. Smugglers often launch pangas under cover of darkness from Mexico’s coastline, aiming to reach remote stretches of the Southern California shore before dawn. The journey can span hundreds of miles and is frequently undertaken in overloaded, poorly equipped vessels.
On Monday, winds were light and swells reached approximately six feet, according to meteorologist Sebastian Westerink of the National Weather Service. The water temperature hovered around 63 degrees Fahrenheit (17°C), posing hypothermia risks to those submerged.
Authorities recovered the battered boat from the beach, where a bulldozer was used to move it for inspection. The vessel, bearing scuffed blue paint and wooden plank seating, was littered with life vests, an empty waterproof cell phone pouch, bottles of water, and a pair of running shoes. Its engine appeared heavily damaged.
Tragedy echoes previous deadly maritime smuggling attempts
The incident is the latest in a string of deadly maritime smuggling cases along California’s coast. In March 2023, eight migrants died after two boats approached the San Diego shoreline during heavy fog. One vessel capsized in the surf, marking one of the deadliest smuggling events in U.S. coastal waters.
In 2022, Antonio Hurtado was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison after piloting a boat overloaded with 32 migrants into powerful surf in May 2021, resulting in three deaths and injuries to more than two dozen passengers. Prosecutors said Hurtado, high on drugs at the time, abandoned the vessel and swam to shore while instructing migrants to hide below deck. The boat broke apart as waves crashed over it.
Globally, migrant sea journeys have become increasingly perilous. According to the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration, nearly 9,000 migrants died attempting to cross borders in 2023 — the highest annual toll on record. The UN’s Missing Migrants Project estimates more than 24,500 migrants have died or gone missing in the central Mediterranean alone between 2014 and 2024, though many deaths remain unreported.
As the search continues off San Diego’s coast, U.S. authorities have not yet identified the nationalities or identities of those aboard Monday’s vessel. It remains unclear whether any additional passengers made it ashore undetected.
