The US lawyers' office in the Southern District of California was arrested and charged after five Mexican nationals capsized near San Diego and carried a ship carrying immigrants who killed at least three people.
The dead included a 14-year-old Indian boy who was on a boat with his parents and sister, authorities said. The father is in coma and his mother is hospitalized, but according to the US lawyers' office, 10 of his sisters are still estimated to be missing.
The boat that was overturned on Monday was Panga, a kind of open ship used to carry people and drugs.
Authorities said 36-year-old Jesus Ivan Rodriguez Riva and Julio Cesar Zuniga Luna, 30, were arrested Monday at Tory Pines State Beach, just north of San Diego. Both are accused of bringing in aliens by bringing in the biggest penalty for death or death or prison life and bringing in $250,000 for financial gain, according to the US lawyers' firm.
Later that night, authorities arrested Melissa Gennel Kota, 33, 32-year-old Gustavo Lala and Sergio Rojas Fregoso. 31. If convicted, they face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $500,000.
Neither of the accused had a lawyer and no contact details were provided to court records Tuesday night.
“The owner's deaths of these children are a heartbreaking reminder that traffickers care little about the costs of fatal business,” Adam Gordon, a US lawyer for the Southern District of California, said in a statement.
The starting point for the boat and where it headed was not immediately announced. Eight of the eight immigrants who were not initially recorded because the boats were not counted were found, authorities said. Details of other passengers were not available.
