SAN DIEGO — A Coast Guard boarding team assigned to Coast Guard Cutter Terrell Horne (WPC 1131) interdicted 26 suspected aliens approximately 14 miles offshore La Jolla, Tuesday.
At 2:28 a.m., watch standers from the Joint Harbor Operations Center received a report from the Independence-class littoral combat ship USS Oakland (LCS 24) of a suspicious unlit vessel and diverted the crew of the Terrell Horne to investigate.
Boarding team members identified a 25-foot vessel and gained compliance without escalated use of force.
During the boarding, 24 adults and 2 unaccompanied minors were identified as suspected aliens and detained by crew members aboard the Terrell Horne.
All 26 detained individuals were transported to Ballast Point and transferred to U.S. Border Patrol agents for further investigation.
-USCG-