August 11, 2003 San Diego, California
1,479 pounds of marijuana seized from a pleasure boat

Two men were arraigned in Federal court this afternoon on felony drug charges after Border Patrol agents with the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) discovered 1,479 pounds of marijuana hidden in a 24-foot pleasure boat at Mission Bay Sunday morning.

The two men charged in the incident are 24-year-old Emilio Ahumada-Espinoza, a Mexican national residing in Tijuana, and Javier Aispuro-Arroyo, aged 23, who is believed to be a U.S. citizen living in Tijuana. The two men are being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in San Diego on charges of unlawful importation of a controlled substance.

Sunday's arrests came after CBP agents from the Border Patrol's Marine Interdiction Unit on routine coastal patrol spotted the men entering U.S. waters from Mexico on board a 24-foot Sea Ray. The officers followed the vessel to the South Shores Boat Ramp in Mission Bay and obtained permission to board. Upon searching the California registered vessel, the agents discovered 87 packages of marijuana with an estimated street value of more than $1million.

The CBP officers then summoned agents with the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to the scene. The ICE agents took the craft's occupants into custody and seized the vessel.

Also taking part in Sunday's interdiction were assets from ICE's Air and Marine Interdiction Division and officers with the San Diego Police Department assigned to Mission Bay.

Source: ICE