Pot-Laden Boat Seized in Malibu

The federal government seized an estimated 1,200 to 1,500 pounds of marijuana Friday night from a Mexican panga boat beached at Malibu's Smugglers Cove, and arrested three men, a Department of Homeland Security official said.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies searched Saturday for a possible fourth smuggler in lush, gated Point Dume residential compounds. Deputies combed the gardens and sideyards at mansions along Cliffside Drive, which are some of the priciest real estate in Malibu, but called of the search at 10 a.m. without finding anyone.

It was not clear if the fourth suspect escaped, or if he was a nonexistent product of confusion in the crashing surf and rocks of Point Dume State Beach on a very-dark night.

"ICE Homeland Security Investigations is spearheading the ongoing investigation and will present the three suspects for federal prosecution on Monday," said Homeland Security spokeswoman Lori K. Haley.

She told City News Service the men's nationalities had not yet been ascertained. The boat landed in Pirate's Cove at Point Dume, just east of , about 10:20 p.m. Friday, said Sgt. Lamont Stringer of the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff's Station.

"A panga was seen offshore in the Malibu area, and it came onshore,'' Virginia Kice of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said. "Border Patrol and sheriff's were the first to respond."

At daybreak, deputies hastily shooed early morning park visitors out of Point Dume State Reserve, a popular wildland and scenic overlook above Little Dume Beach. Tense deputies there told people lingering at the park that they were in danger, as one deputy kept watch on the cliffs with binoculars from atop rocks at Point Dume.

A Coast Guard helicopter hovered over the scene much of the night. Pangas are a type of Mexican fishing boat, and are typically 25 to 30 feet long, without cabins and powered by one or two outboard motors.

Haley said there have been two maritime smuggling intercepts in Los Angeles County and four intercepts in Orange County since last summer.

Mostly calm seas, brought on by the offshore winds, and a moonless night made for a good opportunity to slip in along the coastal rocks, deputies said. But powerful radar generally detects any northbound boat traffic out of Mexican waters and relays GPS coordinates to Homeland Security personnel, federal officials have said.

Smuggler's Cove is a secluded beach at the tip of Point Dume. It got its name more than a century ago, when opium was sometimes unloaded by smugglers from Asia.

—City News Service