The United States Coast Guard arrested human smugglers who crashed into their patrol boat during a getaway attempt and attacked them, according to court documents.
Coast Guardsmen arrested Oscar Eduardo Audelo-Rodriguez and Francisco Brado-Cota on Jan. 5 for illegally entering the U.S. by sea near San Diego in an attempt to smuggle Mexican immigrants into the country.
Around 4 p.m. that day, two Border Patrol agents identified a boat wading through Mission Bay that matched descriptions of a vessel believed to be engaged in smuggling operations. The agents noticed an amount of fishing poles that exceeded the number of observable humans – a common ruse used by smugglers to convince authorities that a vessel is a fishing boat – and prepared to intercept them.
As the boat pulled up to a boat launch, one of the agents hid near a public restroom. Several individuals exited the boat, and the agent intervened, instructing them to sit down. Two men, however, hopped back in the boat and sped off.
One of the agents confirmed the four individuals left on the dock were Mexican citizens entering the U.S. without immigration documents. The agent arrested them.
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The Coast Guard was alerted to the rogue boat and, after making contact with it, ordered the men to halt their escape attempts.
The smuggling boat had other plans.
“The vessel rammed into the USCG vessel, and the two occupants of the vessel began throwing metal objects at the USCG boat and its occupants,” court documents read.
The Coast Guard fired disabling rounds at the illegal vessel’s motor and pepper balls – non-lethal projectiles – at the uncooperative assailants. The men’s refusal to surrender led the Coast Guard to board the boat, spray the men with pepper spray and finally subdue them.
The suspects were taken to Ballast Point at Naval Base Point Loma and arrested around 5 p.m.
Rosa Enriquez-Andalon and Alejandro Sevilla Ramirez, two of the smuggled immigrants, said they were planning to pay the smugglers between $7,000 and $16,000 once inside the U.S. Angel Alejandro Lopez-Alvarez, a third immigrant, said he planned to pay 400,000 Mexican pesos, equating to about $19,500.
Several of the individuals who were being smuggled identified Audelo-Rodriguez as the captain of the boat and Brado-Cota as the co-captain.
Between the summer of 2021 and the winter of 2023, the Coast Guard detained more than 27,000 people, according to ProPublica.
Riley Ceder is a reporter at Military Times, where he covers breaking news, criminal justice, investigations, and cyber. He previously worked as an investigative practicum student at The Washington Post, where he contributed to the Abused by the Badge investigation.
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