SAN DIEGO — Two suspected smuggling boats were found on San Diego beaches on Wednesday morning in Ocean Beach and La Jolla, but no passengers were inside either vessel when authorities arrived.
Dispatchers received reports about a panga boat on a beach near Santa Cruz Avenue in Ocean Beach around 5:30 a.m., San Diego Fire-Rescue spokeswoman Monica Munoz said. Lifeguards responded to the scene, but no one was in the boat when they arrived.
Crews removed about 100 gallons of fuel in drums and at least a dozen life preservers from the boat.
A second boat was found on Wipeout Beach off Coast Boulevard in La Jolla shortly before 6:55 a.m., Munoz said, adding that no one was in that craft either when lifeguards arrived.
The second boat was a 28-foot cabin cruiser, the San Diego Union- Tribune reported.
The Department of Homeland Security Border and Maritime Division was called in to remove both vessels.
