US Coast Guard rescues at least 16, searching for more in Mexico's Baja Coast
Summary
At least 16 people floating in the Pacific Ocean about 140 miles west of Ensenada were rescued in the predawn hours Friday, while authorities searched for several others. A U.S. Coast Guard official said no vessel was found, although one rescued person reported that as many as 27 people had been aboard a boat. Those rescued were being taken to hospitals in San Diego, and the Coast Guard was assisting Mexican authorities with a helicopter, fixed-wing aircraft and a cutter.
Key Facts
- Petty Officer Chris Sappey said people were spotted in the water at about 1 a.m., and the reason they were there remained unclear.
- The Coast Guard search involved a helicopter, fixed-wing aircraft and a cutter working with Mexican authorities.
- At least three people died when a panga flipped about 35 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border in May 2025.
- Eight people were killed when a migrant-smuggling boat capsized near a San Diego beach in 2023.
- A San Diego man was sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2022 after piloting an overloaded vessel carrying 32 migrants that broke apart in heavy surf, killing three people and injuring more than two dozen.
U.S. Coast Guard personnel keep watch over the U.S.-Mexico border in McAllen, Texas, Oct. 8. AP-Yonhap
LOS ANGELES — At least 16 people seen floating in the Pacific Ocean off Mexico’s Baja California coast were rescued in the predawn hours Friday and authorities were searching for several others, a U.S. Coast Guard official said.
Petty Officer Chris Sappey said that at about 1 a.m., several people were spotted floating in the water about 140 miles west of Ensenada. Sappey said it was unclear why people were in the water and no vessel has been found. He said one person who was rescued said as many as 27 people were on board a boat. Sappey had no further details about what the people were doing.
“There was no sight of a vessel in the water, just straight people in the water,” Sappey said.
Those being rescued were being taken to hospitals in San Diego, Sappey said.
The Coast Guard was assisting Mexican authorities in the search efforts with a helicopter, fixed-airwing plane and a cutter, Sappey said.
Migrants are increasingly turning to the risky alternative offered by smugglers to travel by sea to avoid heavily guarded land borders, including off California’s coast. Pangas leave Mexico in the dead of night and sometimes chart hundreds of miles north.
There have been several incidents in recent years of migrant vessels capsizing en route to California.
In May of 2025, at least three people died when a panga flipped off the coast about 35 miles (56 kilometers) north of the U.S.-Mexico border. In 2023, eight people were killed when two migrant smuggling boats approached a San Diego beach in heavy fog and one of them capsized in the surf. It was one of the deadliest maritime smuggling incidents in waters off the U.S. coast.
A federal judge sentenced a San Diego man to 18 years in prison in 2022 for piloting a small vessel overloaded with 32 migrants that smashed apart in powerful surf off the coast, killing three people and injuring more than two dozen.
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