Noem calls for death penalty after human smuggling boat capsizes

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem is calling for the death penalty against two Mexican nationals charged with human smuggling after a boat capsized near San Diego, killing three people and leaving seven others missing. 

“Yesterday, off the coast of southern California, a panga-style boat capsized that was operated by Mexican nationals attempting to smuggle 14 aliens into the U.S.,” Noem said in a statement Wednesday. “Tragically, three people were killed and seven are still missing.” 

“Their deaths were not only avoidable but were also the direct result of greed and indifference of smugglers who exploited them. Maritime smuggling is not just illegal–it is a violent and inherently dangerous crime,” she said. “Those who knowingly place human lives at grave risk in furtherance of such crimes must be held fully accountable.” 

Noem said she was requesting the death penalty under the Immigration and Nationality Act and the Federal Death Penalty Act. 

“I will be formally requesting that the Attorney General ensure that these two suspected smugglers are swiftly prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Noem said. “I will also be urging the Attorney General to seek the death penalty in this case.” 

Noem said DHS will not tolerate “this level of criminal depravity or reckless disregard for human life” and will continue to work with federal partners to ensure justice is served. 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection and local authorities responded to the overturned boat that washed ashore near San Diego on May 5. 

Border Control confirmed through surviving individuals that 14 adults and two minors were on the boat. The three deceased individuals were recovered and identified as Indian nationals, DHS said. 

Two surviving individuals were identified as Mexican nationals: Julio Cesar Zuniga Luna, 30, and Jesus Juan Rodriguez Leya, 36. They were detained “on suspicion of smuggling illegal aliens” into the U.S. 

Three others were later arrested and face related charges for “participating in a human smuggling event that led to the deaths of at least three migrants.” One of the deaths was a 14-year-old boy from India. His 10-year-old sister is still missing and presumed dead, and their parents are hospitalized, the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of California said. 

Noem said in her statement that the tragedy is a reminder that there is a “lethal danger” to human smuggling at sea. 

Later on Monday evening, Border Patrol agents were conducting operations about 25 miles away when they identified a vehicle that had been observed at the scene of the capsizing earlier in the day.

The driver of the vehicle fled the scene. Agents identified two other vehicles they say were involved in the smuggling event and were able to successfully arrest the drivers.

They located eight of the nine missing migrants from the boat, with the exception of the 10-year-old sister.