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3w ago

Death Penalty Sought for Smugglers After Fatal San Diego Boat Capsizing

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has formally requested capital punishment for two Mexican nationals charged with smuggling that led to three confirmed deaths and one presumed death.

El bote recuperado en la playa Torrey Pines en San Diego, California, el 5 de mayo del 2025. (AP foto/Denis Poroy)
Kristi Noem, Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security makes opening statements during a House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security Oversight Hearing on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in the Rayburn House office building in Washington, DC, on Tuesday May 6, 2025.
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Overview

  • A panga boat carrying 16 migrants capsized off Del Mar Beach on May 5, resulting in three confirmed deaths, including a 14-year-old boy from India, and a 10-year-old girl presumed lost at sea.
  • Federal prosecutors have charged five Mexican nationals in connection with the smuggling operation, including two alleged pilots, Jesus Ivan Rodriguez-Leyva and Julio Cesar Zuniga-Luna.
  • Rodriguez-Leyva and Zuniga-Luna face charges of bringing in aliens resulting in death, a capital crime under U.S. law, and could face the death penalty if convicted.
  • DHS Secretary Kristi Noem cited the Immigration and Nationality Act and the Federal Death Penalty Act in her formal request for capital punishment for the alleged smugglers.
  • The tragedy underscores the dangers of maritime human smuggling, with survivors and victims’ families highlighting the devastating human cost of such operations.