SAN PEDRO : Fishing Boat With 95 Aboard Is Intercepted

The Coast Guard intercepted and boarded 127-foot fishing boat 600 miles south of San Diego on Friday and found 88 men and 7 women on board who are thought to be undocumented immigrants being smuggled into the country.

Chief Petty Officer Brandy Ian of the Coast Guard’s public affairs office in San Pedro said two cutters were dispatched to the area after the crew of a Coast Guard plane on routine patrol saw the boat crowded with people Wednesday and became suspicious.

Ian said the crews of the two cutters were interviewing the 95 passengers on the fishing boat--all of whom are Asian but whose nationality has yet to be determined. Ian said that if they are found to be undocumented, the State Department will probably be notified and the boat escorted to a U.S. port.