SAN DIEGO - Three boats intercepted in just two days. The U.S. Coast Guard says it's seeing a dramatic rise in the number of smugglers using the water to bring drugs and people into this country illegally.
"We are seeing a lot of smuggling," says Petty Officer Henry Dunphy.
By air, the Coast Guard helps to intercept a boat with 14 undocumented people floating in Mission Bay.
"They were actually stopped inside of Mission Bay and that is pretty unusual," says Dunphy.
Within hours of the Mission Bay interception, another boat is stopped on the beach in Encinitas carrying about one thousand pounds of marijuana.
On Tuesday a third boat was stopped after dropping off half a dozen people in Carlsbad. Two more suspected smugglers who are in this country illegally are taken into custody.
The Coast Guard says it's seeing a dramatic increase in the amount of smugglers it's helping to catch off our coast. It's spokesperson says the number of people being smuggled is up 30% over last year. The number of arrests for drug smuggling has risen from 9 in 2008 to 41 so far this year.
The numbers are troubling to people who live along the coast.
"We have to get a grip on this because we don't want this community to start seeing drug wars or people fighting over drugs at the beaches," says Encinitas resident Bruce Sallee.
San Diego has a joint operations center that allows Border Patrol agents, Customs agents, and the Coast Guard to share information in real time. They say that information sharing directly led to the most recent interceptions.
