SAN DIEGO -- A citizen's tip about a suspiciously overcrowded small boat off the coast of Point Loma led Thursday to the arrest of 20 suspected illegal immigrants.

U.S. Coast Guard personnel received the report about the jam-packed, 20-foot recreational vessel plying the ocean roughly 18 miles from shore about 9:30 a.m., according to the federal maritime agency.

The Coast Guard sent out two vessels and a helicopter and intercepted the skiff along with personnel aboard a U.S. Customs and Border Protection boat.

The suspected undocumented immigrants, believed to be citizens of Mexico, were turned over to Customs agents for naturalization checks and evaluation of possible charges or deportation proceedings.

Coast Guard personnel seized the suspect boat, named La Estrella, and towed it to the agency's station on the San Diego Bay waterfront.