Exclusive | ‘Expert’ human traffickers used getaway cars in Newport landing to help illegal migrants flee: witnesses

A dozen suspected illegal migrants who descended on Newport Beach by boat were spirited away by waiting vehicles in a sophisticated human smuggling operation, witnesses told federal agents.

The boat carrying a large group of suspected migrants landed at a private dock in Newport Harbor last Saturday before the men onboard disappeared into the posh neighborhood. The 20-foot vessel they arrived in was abandoned after striking and damaging a nearby yacht.

One resident told The California Post she saw the men enter two vehicles on her street and drive away, making a slick getaway that has flummoxed investigators and left neighbors frightened for their safety.  

“They just drove away,” said the woman, who added that she relayed the story to a federal agent who came to probe the case.

Investigators are chasing videos that may have captured the incident, law enforcement officials said, but only one grainy surveillance clip of the suspected migrants fleeing the boat has been made public so far.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesman said US Customs and Border Protection agents were alerted to possible smuggling after a witness reported seeing approximately 12 individuals depart a small boat in the Newport Beach Harbor.

A 911 caller who reported the landing to police said a dozen Hispanic men were aboard the fishing-type motorboat that came ashore in the 400 block of Edgewater Place on Newport Bay near the Balboa Island Ferry.

An initial search of the boat revealed indicators the vessel was being used for human smuggling. Customs and Border Protection has seized the ship.

The incident has rattled residents in the posh neighborhood, where a low crime rate and high income levels have not protected the community from illegal migration.

Two weeks before the Edgewater landing, a US Coast Guard cutter intercepted a 28-foot cabin boat carrying two dozen suspected illegal migrants in the waters due west of Newport. The people aboard were taken to Newport Harbor and handed over to Border Patrol agents.

On July 29, the Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection found 21 illegal migrants packed onto small boat 4 miles west of San Clemente Island, including an unresponsive 56-year-old man who later died at the hospital.

Newport Beach City Council member Erik Weigand said the steady traffic of pleasure boats in Newport Harbor may be used as cover for smugglers. “We’re one of the largest pleasure craft harbors this side of the Mississippi. Maybe it’s just the high volume of traffic,” he said.

Weigand is seeking support for a project to install security cameras at the mouth of Newport Harbor to protect the local waterway from smugglers. A video system used to detect boats without tags could be used to identify potential traffickers, he said.  

Federal officials said human traffickers in Mexico commonly work with organized crime syndicates to move illegal migrants into the US. As security has tightened at the border, more have taken to the sea.

“They’ve become desperate and they’re trying to do ocean runs,” said Bill Essayli, LA’s top federal prosecutor. “It’s very dangerous and if they’re caught they will prosecuted.”

Residents in Newport said some sort of security of the harbor is needed. The private docks that line the waterway are often left unguarded, they said, presenting easy landing points for human traffickers.

“They found the soft underbelly of Orange County,” said Don Gerber, a retiree who lives by the water. “Sadly, I’m impressed by the expertise of these smugglers.”

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