Could Border Smugglers Turn to Piracy?

On any given day, a game of cat and mouse is being played out along “Smuggler’s Corridor,” the nearshore waters off Southern California and Northern Baja California. United States federal agents play cat. Their role is to nab smugglers as they ferry illicit human and narcotic cargo across the border.
The role of mouse is typically played aboard a small boat, usually an open skiff called a panga. Smugglers avoid detection by motoring across the border at night.
If lucky, they drop their cargoes on beaches and in bays and coves, and then return from whence they came. If unlucky, they may be captured by U.S. federal agents or fall victim to rough seas. Last year, two illegal immigrants died.
It’s a high-risk game, but rewards are high, too. A single smuggling skiff may carry nearly a ton of marijuana with a street value of $100,000 or more.
Pangas carry expensive human cargo, too. They’re often overloaded with two dozen or more illegal immigrants, who pay between $2,500 and $4,000 each to be brought to the U.S.
The human and drug smuggling trade is so lucrative that it is almost completely controlled by Mexican drug cartels, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents.
Decades ago, most contraband was smuggled over land at various weak points along a very porous U.S./Mexico border. But years of strengthening the fence and instituting other measures have pushed smugglers out to sea in increasing numbers.