Federal prosecutors on Monday charged a suspected smuggler after a packed migrant boat flipped in rough seas off San Diego, killing four people in yet another deadly run on America’s southern border.
Officials say David Alfonso Barrera Nunes captained the doomed vessel and now faces two federal counts for bringing migrants into the country illegally for profit, resulting in death. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison — or face the death penalty.
Barrera Nunes was busted Saturday and is expected to appear at a detention hearing later this week before U.S. Magistrate Judge David Leshner in the Southern District of California.
Border Patrol agents first spotted the small craft crossing the maritime border around 11:30 p.m. Friday. About an hour later, the boat had capsized in six-foot swells off Imperial Beach, just north of Mexico. Several people were “emerging from the water” as agents arrived, the Justice Department said.
Nine migrants were believed to be aboard, and four reportedly died. Five others were pulled from the waves, detained, or both.
Survivors told investigators the engine had died and passengers were begging the captain to turn back, but the skipper allegedly pressed toward the U.S. coastline anyway. One man said he was trapped below deck as the vessel rolled while another suffered a brutal leg injury when a metal shard pierced him underwater.
“The captain refused and attempted to reach shore despite having no engine power, causing the vessel to rotate [in] the waves and capsize,” the Justice Department said. Barrera Nunes, accused of being the second person to reach land, allegedly made no effort to save the drowning migrants.
A second man on board, Luis Enrique Barreto Goitia, was also hit with a federal charge for illegally reentering the country after being deported.
Capt. Robert Tucker of the Coast Guard’s San Diego sector said the disaster highlights the brutal reality of human smuggling and illegal immigration. “Our crews and partner agencies responded immediately, but this case demonstrates the severe risks posed to aliens attempting to enter the United States by sea in unstable vessels,” Tucker said, according to CBS affiliate KFMB.
Deadly capsizings have become a grim routine along the California coastline. In May, five Mexican nationals were charged after a smuggling boat overturned near San Diego, killing three passengers, prosecutors said.
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