Two migrants died in California after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers tried to stop a car that suspected of smuggling people into the United States.
The incident took place after officials at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry (POE) responded to information shared by video surveillance operators, who reported potential smuggling activity at the Customs Export Facility (CEF). As a Border Patrol agent who responded to the call entered a parking lot to inspect a car, the suspects accelerated and struck the agent's vehicle, managing to escape for a few hours.
In the afternoon, RVSS operators notified agents that two individuals were seen climbing over the secondary border barrier near the same location as the morning incident, leading Border Patrol agents to track them down. Authorities then reported that the suspect vehicle was traveling westbound on State Route 905 when a canine (K9) unit tried to stop it. However, the car proceeded to accelerate and attempt to escape.
However, the driver lost control and struck multiple vehicles, rolled and ultimately came to a rest upside down in the middle of the road.
The pursuit, which lasted around four minutes, involved two occupants ejected from the vehicle during the crash. One of the individuals ejected was later identified as the driver, a U.S. citizen, who remained conscious as Border Patrol agents secured the area.
Once first responders arrived at the scene, the CalFire Paramedic team declared a woman who was ejected from the vehicle deceased. A few minutes later, Falck medical personnel extracted another man who was still inside the silver sedan and transported him, along with the driver, via ambulance to Scripps Mercy Hospital.
A doctor at Scripps Mercy Hospital later declared the man extracted from the car deceased. According to CBP, both deceased individuals were Mexican nationals. The driver, on the other hand, was a U.S. citizen and suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
As the California Highway Patrol and the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office continue to investigate the incident, the driver could face heavy charges related to human smuggling.
The smuggling of undocumented immigrants is considered to be a federal felony offence and is a common immigration-related crime in California's Southern District.
The basic statutory maximum penalty for smuggling undocumented immigrants is a fine and imprisonment for not more than 10 years. But it can also lead to longer sentences. If the violation results in the death of any person, the defendant may be punished by death or by imprisonment for any term of years.
Just last week, a former police detective at the border city of Eagle Pass, Texas, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for her role in a conspiracy to harbor undocumented immigrants for a human smuggling organization.
According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, Fiscal Year 2023, saw a total of 4,731 smuggling offenses involving undocumented immigrants. The agency says that such offenses have increased by 35.7% since 2019.
California's Southern District saw the fourth-most cases of illegal immigrant smuggling offenses in 2023, with 490 cases reported.
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