23 arrested in alleged panga illegal immigrant smuggling plot off California coast

Border authorities arrested 23 illegal immigrants over the weekend in a failed alleged smuggling operation off the California coast. 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) air and marine crews intercepted a panga-style vessel Saturday just west of San Clemente Island near San Diego, the agency said. 

When a crew intercepted the boat at around 1 p.m., it found 23 illegal immigrants on board.

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They were turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in San Diego. 

The illegal immigrants arrested appeared to be all men and women. 

In February 2025, the mayor of San Clemente, a coastal city just north of San Diego, told Fox News Digital about an uptick of panga boats that often came ashore to drop off illegal migrants who then disappeared inland.

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“We’ve had a large increase in the number of pangas that have come up on our beach,” Steve Knoblock said at the time. “It happens, and nobody seems to notice. No one seems to capture it. There’s no interdiction, and we’ve been having them with much greater frequency.” 

In 2021, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) warned of increased sightings of pangas being used for smuggling in Southern California. The fishing boats are used by smugglers to transport migrants and illegal drugs, according to ICE. 

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At the time, ICE said around 90 migrants were caught along the coastline of Los Angeles County on the Palos Verdes Peninsula and in San Pedro, Long Beach, Malibu, Santa Catalina Island and Newport Beach in Orange County.