Moves on land may push migrants into Pacific

Most of the skippers had traveled at night without lights on lightweight boats intended for one-time use, a departure from past practice of relying on more seaworthy vessels, said Mike Unzueta, the lead ICE investigator in San Diego.

The hired skippers are sometimes down on their luck. Scott Leo Paul, 51, had been unemployed and homeless for much of his adult life when he agreed in June to guide five Mexicans into San Diego Bay, home to several military installations and downtown skyscrapers, according to court documents. He pleaded guilty to immigrant smuggling.

Passengers told authorities they were transferred at sea to the 16-foot vessel that Paul helmed. They agreed to pay $4,000 to $4,500 each for the trip — about two to three times what it normally costs to be led on the much longer journey through mountains or deserts.

The smugglers rely on drivers who shuttle migrants to safe houses once they reach U.S. shores, authorities say. In November, authorities said, they arrested Dale Stamper, a U.S. citizen, as he steered five illegal immigrants from Mexico on a 19-foot boat toward Mission Bay, home of SeaWorld Adventure Park.

Authorities also arrested two illegal immigrants who were to meet Stamper at a public restroom and "help the aliens get into a transport vehicle," according to a federal complaint. One said he took the job to settle an $1,800 debt with smugglers for crossing the border a day earlier.

CBP added 39 agents to patrol U.S. waters last year, nearly all of them in San Diego and Brownsville, Texas, near the Gulf of Mexico. That brought its marine force to 150 — most of them assigned to patrol the Caribbean and Florida.

The Coast Guard also patrols the seas for illegal watercraft, but it's an uphill battle.

‘Wide open’ waters
"It's a wide open gulf and it's a wide open Pacific," said Nestor Rodriguez, a University of Houston sociologist.

Authorities suspect this week's mishap may give smugglers pause, though not enough to deter them.

"These arrests may cause them to step back for a while, but they're driven by money and greed," Unzueta said. "They'll be at it again."

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