Two men responsible for a fatal smuggling attempt that ended in tragedy near Imperial Beach last year have been handed prison sentences. Captain Jorge Armando Preciado-Vasquez, 30, and co-captain Alexis Martinez-Preciado, 20, both from Baja California, Mexico, were sentenced to 54 and 50 months behind bars, respectively. The boat they were navigating capsized during a smuggling operation, leaving three dead.
The attempt to illegally smuggle seven adults and an unaccompanied minor from Mexico into the United States took place over Thanksgiving weekend in 2022. As they tried to approach the shore in the early hours, Preciado-Vasquez and Martinez-Preciado instructed the passengers to remove their life vests to quickly and inconspicuously make their way to shore, a common tactic cited by the prosecution.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the small panga boat flipped shortly after the individuals discarded their life vests. The resulting chaos claimed the lives of a 39-year-old woman, a 47-year-old man, and an unidentified young woman believed to be from Guatemala, despite the heroic rescue efforts of surfers, witnesses, and Imperial Beach lifeguards.
"Maritime human smuggling is an incredibly dangerous tactic that has claimed numerous lives. However, transnational criminal organizations have no regard for human life and continue to enrich themselves using the tactic," said Chad Plantz, Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security Investigations San Diego, as told to the press. "HSI is committed to using all means at our disposal to investigate and hold accountable those placing human beings at substantial risk of injury and death."
The defendants faced charges including bringing in aliens for financial gain and aiding and abetting, with potential penalties ranging from a mandatory minimum of three years to a maximum of ten years in prison, along with up to a $250,000 fine. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Peter Horn and Ronald Sou, with several agencies involved in the investigation, including Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Coast Guard, and local law enforcement bodies.
