CG seizes Mexican fishing boats

One of the boats the Coast Guard seized from the Mexican Fishermen. (Courtesy Photo)

By LAUREN N. LAUGHLIN
Special to the PRESS

Law Enforcement crews from US Coast Guard Sta­tion South Padre Island in­tercepted two Mexican ves­sels fishing illegally in US fishing waters Wednesday.

Both Mexican vessels and approximately 15,000 feet of deployed longline gear were seized. The six crew members from both fishing vessels were turned over to US Border Patrol for release to Mexican law enforcement officials.

Shortly after 9 a.m. Wednesday morning, a HU- 25 Falcon jet aircraft from USCG Air Station Corpus Christi spotted the Mexi­can vessels, known as “lan­chas”, retrieving longline gear north of the US/Mex­ico maritime border inside the US Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) where only US fisherman can legally fish.

A law enforcement boat crew from Station South Padre launched immedi­ately upon notification to investigate the report. Once on scene, the coast guard crew spotted a lancha near the reported position col­lecting fishing gear illegally placed in US fishing wa­ters. The Coast Guard boat briefly gave chase to the lancha, which fled upon be­ing spotted, before the op­erator complied with orders to stop.

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