A panga boat was abandoned near Cypress Street in Newport Beach on Saturday afternoon after at least a dozen suspected migrants were seen leaving the waterfront and dispersing into the surrounding neighborhood. The vessel was also reportedly involved in minor damage to a nearby yacht, including scratches and a dent.
Video obtained and described as exclusive by FOX 11 Los Angeles appears to show the boat docking and people walking away from the waterfront. Yahoo News reported that the vessel was left behind after apparently hitting a nearby yacht. The boat was estimated at about 20 feet long, and the Coast Guard was believed to have taken custody of it.
Mixed Reactions From the Waterfront Community
Reactions to Saturday's landing were mixed among residents and officials, according to the report. Newport Beach City Council member Erik Weigand described the incident as a safety concern, saying, “It's an unsafe thing, right?” He also said the city was coordinating with federal authorities.
The available account does not establish who was aboard the boat, whether anyone was located or detained after leaving the waterfront, or the full extent of the yacht damage. It also does not provide a detailed official account of the vessel's recovery.
What the Harbor Department says
The City of Newport Beach Harbor Department says its team conducts daily harbor patrols and provides assistance and services to the community and visitors, according to the City of Newport Beach Harbor Department. That general description does not by itself confirm who recovered Saturday's vessel, whether the yacht damage was assessed, or whether anyone who left the boat was located or detained.
Part of a Pattern Along the Coast
Saturday's episode is not the first time a panga has surfaced along Newport's shoreline. Two years earlier, cellphone video captured more than 20 suspected migrants walking off a panga in Newport Harbor before climbing into waiting vans, the same report notes. The Coast Guard later intercepted that vessel with 21 people aboard, including two from Uzbekistan and one from Russia.
Recent offshore activity has included several Coast Guard responses. Earlier this month, the Coast Guard rescued 37 suspected migrants nearly 100 miles offshore after their boat had drifted for two days without food, water, or fuel. Days later, the agency said it interdicted 24 suspected migrants south of Santa Barbara Island and eventually transferred them to Newport Harbor. Those incidents provide regional context but do not establish who was aboard Saturday's boat or whether the cases were connected.
A Longer History of Panga Landings in Orange County
Unauthorized landings by panga boats have cropped up along the Orange County coast for years, occasionally with legal consequences. In a separate incident from November 2018, seven men who escaped from a panga boat at West Street Beach in Laguna Beach, along with two suspected smugglers found waiting in getaway cars, were arrested, according to a report from the Orange County Register. A Border Patrol agent said at the time that four of the men were Mexican nationals and three were Chinese nationals. That panga could hold up to 15 passengers, and a resident's video appeared to show 13 men running from the boat, the Register reported. Border Patrol officials also said single panga transports could cost smugglers' passengers between $13,000 and $17,000.
Federal data cited in that same 2018 report showed 433 arrests of people trying to enter the country by panga in the San Diego sector between November 1, 2017, and October 31, 2018, up from 347 the year before. Those figures predate Saturday's Newport Beach landing and are not evidence of what happened in this case. No official account from police, the Coast Guard or federal immigration authorities has yet addressed the identities of those involved, whether anyone was arrested, the vessel's recovery or the extent of the yacht damage.
