5 people charged after 3 dead, 1 missing in alleged human smuggling operation in San Diego, authorities say
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Five people were charged Tuesday for their involvement in an alleged human smuggling operation after a small boat capsized off the San Diego coast Monday morning, according to court documents filed Tuesday.
The incident left at least three people dead, four injured and one person missing, the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California said in a news release.
Nine people were initially believed to be missing after the capsizing. During a later immigration inspection in Chula Vista, California, Monday night, authorities stopped multiple vehicles suspected of being part of the alleged smuggling operation and apprehended all but one of the remaining missing people, the US Attorney's office said.
One of the three people who died was a 14-year-old boy and Indian citizen, while his 10-year-old sister is the individual still missing, prosecutors said. Their parents are among the four people hospitalized, they added. The two others who died are both Mexican citizens.
Two Mexican citizens were arrested at the beach where the boat overturned and were charged with bringing in aliens resulting in death and bringing in aliens for financial gain, one complaint shows.
Three others were charged with transportation of illegal aliens after being arrested Monday night in Chula Vista, another complaint says.
It is not immediately clear if those charged have attorneys.
'Human smuggling, regardless of the route, is not only illegal but extremely dangerous. Smugglers often treat people as disposable commodities, leading to tragic and sometimes deadly consequences, as we saw in this case,' Shawn Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of HSI San Diego, said in a statement. 'Yesterday's heartbreaking events are a stark reminder of the urgent need to dismantle these criminal networks driven by greed.'
The US Coast Guard searched the surrounding area by sea and air with a 45-foot-long rescue boat, a helicopter and other craft, before they called off the search 'pending further developments,' it said in a news release Tuesday.
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