Boat filled with illegal migrants intercepted off SoCal coast days after similar vessel breached ritzy enclave

Another boat carrying suspected illegal migrants has been intercepted off Southern California, just days after nearly a dozen people made it all the way into ritzy Newport Beach before vanishing into the neighborhood.

This time, the Coast Guard stopped the 21-foot vessel about six miles off Point Loma Tuesday night and found eight adults aboard.

Watchstanders at the Joint Harbor Operations Center first spotted the suspicious vessel at 8:02 p.m. and sent a boarding team from the Coast Guard Maritime Safety and Security Team Los Angeles/Long Beach to investigate.

The crew gained compliance after approaching the boat and detained all eight people onboard, whom the Coast Guard identified as suspected aliens.

They were brought to Ballast Point and handed over to US Border Patrol agents for further investigation.

The interception came just days after authorities were left scrambling to identify another group that managed to reach Newport Harbor on Saturday and disappear among the surrounding multimillion-dollar homes.

Close to a dozen suspected illegal migrants poured from a 20-foot boat after it barreled into the harbor, striking and damaging a nearby yacht before being abandoned.

A grainy surveillance camera captured the group rushing from the vessel near the Balboa Island Ferry and scattering on foot.

“Literally no regard for safety, just barreled in and everyone bailed out and just skirmished into the community,” Newport Beach City Council member Erik Weigand previously said.

Investigators have since been hunting for more footage from public and private security cameras that could help identify the group, potentially using facial recognition technology.

It remains unknown whether anyone was waiting for them onshore or whether vehicles helped them escape the area.

The back-to-back incidents are part of a string of migrant boats encountered in Southern California waters.

A previous landing near Newport Harbor saw more than 20 suspected migrants jump from a panga boat and climb into waiting vans, while the Coast Guard has separately intercepted groups of 21 and 24 people.

In another case, 37 suspected migrants were rescued nearly 100 miles offshore after their vessel was reportedly left drifting for two days without food, water or fuel.

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