The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Narwhal (WPB 87335) interdicted 21 migrants from a 34-foot boat, one mile west of Newport Beach, last Thursday.
During an evening patrol, the Narwhal crew identified a 34-foot boat operating suspiciously outside of Newport Harbor.
Narwhal’s crew then deployed their small boat crew and boarded the vessel at approximately 7:05 p.m.
Narwhal’s boarding team discovered 21 migrants aboard. The individuals were taken into custody and safely transferred to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Of the 21 migrants taken into custody, 18 were determined to be of Mexican nationality, two were identified as Uzbek nationality, and one of Russian nationality.
All 21 migrants have been released to CBP as of Friday morning.
The original announcement can be found here.
