U.S. Coast Guard Halts Immigrant Ship Bound From Mexico

IMPERIAL BEACH, CA — The U.S. Coast Guard caught three undocumented immigrants in a small boat off the coast of Imperial Beach over the weekend, authorities reported Monday.

Personnel with the federal maritime agency spotted the 20-foot vessel roughly six miles from shore at about 4 p.m. Saturday, according to USCG public affairs

When the occupants of the boat refused to surrender, the federal personnel fired warning shots with a shotgun and then fired pepper-spray rounds onto the skiff, the Coast Guard reported.

At that point, the suspects -- two of whom claimed Mexican nationality, and the other Turkish citizenship -- gave themselves up.

They were turned over to the custody of the Department of Homeland Security at Ballast Point.