SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Five people have been charged in connection with the fatal human smuggling incident in which a panga overturned in the waters off Torrey Pines State Beach Monday morning, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California.
The press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office says at least three people died in this incident, including a 14-year-old boy from India. Prosecutors say his missing 10-year-old sister is presumed dead at sea, while their father is in a coma. Their mother was hospitalized as well. The Mexican Consulate says the other two people who died were adults from Mexico
U.S. attorneys identified two men they believe were involved in the smuggling: Mexican nationals Julio Cesar Zuniga Luna and Jesus Juan Rodriguez Leyva. Both men were arrested Monday at the beach and now face charges of bringing in aliens resulting in death and bringing in aliens for financial gain.
The press release also says on Monday night, Border Patrol agents working in the Chula Vista area noticed a vehicle that was seen at the scene in Del Mar earlier that day. The driver left the scene, and as the agents continued investigating, they found two other vehicles that were possibly involved in the smuggling event.
Border Patrol managed to stop those vehicles and arrest the drivers. Additionally, the attorney's office says Border Patrol found eight of the nine migrants who had gone missing from the boat, save for the 10-year-old girl from India.
Prosecutors identified Melissa Jenelle Cota, Gustavo Lara and Sergio Rojas-Fregosa, all Mexican nationals, as conspirators in the smuggling scheme. They've all been arrested and charged with transportation of illegal aliens.
Rojas-Fregosa had been previously deported on Dec. 19, 2023.
“The drowning deaths of these children are a heartbreaking reminder of how little human traffickers care about the costs of their deadly business,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “We are committed to seeking justice for these vulnerable victims, and to holding accountable any traffickers responsible for their deaths.”
Shawn Gibson, the special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations in San Diego, says regardless of the path taken, human smuggling is extremely dangerous, often leading to the deadly consequences seen in this panga incident.
"[Monday's] heartbreaking events are a stark reminder of the urgent need to dismantle these criminal networks driven by greed. The HSI along with the U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Coast Guard, and other partners from the Marine Task Force, remains firmly committed to holding those responsible accountable for these senseless deaths," Gibson says.
U.S. Attorneys Sean Van Demark and Edward Chang are the prosecutors on this case.
The San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office identified Prince Brijeshkumar Patel as the 14-year-old boy who died. The medical examiner also identified Marcos Lozada-Juarez, 19, as one of the drowning victims.
