A team of federal agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security arrested four Mexican citizens and seized over a ton of marijuana after sighting vessel wreckage strung along a beach on Santa Rosa Island
A U.S. Navy helicopter reported sighting a Mexican panga of a type typically used for smuggling narcotics and aliens in the Southern California region about 46 miles west of Pt. Loma on the night of March 4.
On March 6, U.S. Customs and Border Protection marine interdiction agents on a CBP Blackhawk helicopter discovered fuel canisters and wreckage from the panga on a beach on Santa Rosa Island.
After the helicopter landed, the CBP marine interdiction agents scouted the area and discovered 46 bundles of marijuana weighing 2,448 pounds concealed by vegetation in a nearby canyon and four adult Mexican males hiding in nearby brush.
The four men are awaiting arraignment before a magistrate judge for the alleged smuggling attempt.
