1 Dead in U.S. Border Patrol, Smuggling Boat Collision

A woman aboard a suspected immigrant smuggling boat died on Thursday after the skiff collided with a U.S. Customs and Border Protection vessel in the waters off the coast of southern California, customs officials said.

The vessel was first spotted off the coast of Encinitas, a city about 22 miles (35 km) north of San Diego, by Customs' Office of Air and Marine, according to a Customs spokeswoman.

The Customs boat hailed the skiff and ordered its occupants to surrender, but the agency said their orders were ignored.

Federal agents then fired warning shots into the air and were closing in when the two watercraft collided. The immigrant vessel subsequently capecized, dumping all 20 occupants onboard into the ocean.

Federal agents pulled the passengers from the water and discovered one woman was unconscious. Agents perfomed CPR on the woman, but she was unresponsive. The woman was then transported by U.S. Coast Guard helicopter to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead, a dispatcher with the Coast Guard said.

Border Patrol agents met the Customs boat and took the 19 survivors into custody. Four of the occupants were hospitalized with non-lifetratening injuries. 

All 20 people are suspected of attempting to enter the country illegally.  Additional CBP Air and Marine and U.S. Coast Guard vessels are at the location to recover any additional cargo from the capsized smuggler vessel. CBP is investigating the incident.

Border enforcers have reported increasing numbers of attempts to smuggle people and drugs at sea since 2012 as land routes have become harder to use.