Coast Guard Rescues 16 From Suspected Smuggling Boat Off Baja California, 11 Still Missing

The U.S. Coast Guard rescued 16 people from the Pacific Ocean on Friday and kept searching for 11 more after a boat broke apart about 140 miles west of Ensenada, Mexico, officials said.

A distress call came in around 1 a.m. for a vessel taking on water, a Coast Guard spokesperson told the California Post. When crews arrived, they found boat debris and 27 people in the water, the New York Post reported.

The people pulled from the water were taken to hospitals. San Diego hospitals were placed on alert, and ambulances staged at the Coast Guard station at the Embarcadero while the search continued, according to reports.

A Coast Guard cutter on the open ocean near a search zone marked by orange buoys”>

Smuggling suspected, not confirmed

A spokesperson for the city of San Diego told NBC San Diego that a human smuggling boat was at the scene. The Coast Guard could not confirm to the Post that it was a human smuggling operation.

Officials also could not confirm whether any Mexican nationals were aboard the boat, or whether other agencies, including U.S. Border Patrol, were involved.

On X, U.S. Coast Guard Southwest said air and surface crews were responding to reports of 27 people in the water, with 15 rescued at the time of that post. The Coast Guard later told the Post the number rescued had risen to 16.

A Coast Guard helicopter flying over open ocean during a search”>

Search still active

The Coast Guard told the Post that the search effort was still active, with air and surface crews working the area west of Ensenada.

The agency said more information would follow as the operation continued.

Life preservers and a rescue throw ring hanging on the railing of a rescue vessel”>

Reporting based on coverage by the New York Post and NBC San Diego.