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14 alleged drug smugglers arrested

September 6, 2012

A report of a panga boat off the coast of San Simeon led San Luis Obispo County Sheriff deputies to take 14 alleged smugglers into custody early Thursday morning.

Following the tip, a California Highway Patrol officer flying over the coastline in a helicopter spotted the panga boat loaded with large bales of marijuana near San Carpoforo Creek Road.

A witness told officers that people were carrying parcels from the beach to a motor home. The suspects then left in the motor home, a black sedan and a white truck.

Deputies stopped two of the suspect vehicles, one near Highway 1 in Cayucos and the other in San Simeon.

Panga boats are modest-sized, open, fast-moving fishing boats common throughout Central America.


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I wonder who was in the vehicle they didn’t stop, and why didn’t they stop it?


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Looks like a nice fishing boat. I can just see myself fishing rod in one hand and a brownie in the other. Not a care in the world. Just peace and freedom from the law and problems. Light one up for me will you?


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Isn’t this the same type of boat found six to 12 months ago around the light house area, abandoned with bales in it and footprints leading up to the highway? Probably same group.


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Damn, the price of weed is going up.

Just kidding. I wonder where the boat launched from? That’s a pretty small boat to go very far on the ocean. Can’t imagine it launching in Mexico and running all the way up to San Simeon. That’s more than half way up the State Coastline.

That’s a hellova long trip and would take a few days to complete. Hard to imagine it making a trip that far and not being spotted by the Coast Guard, a plane or another vessel.


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Nobody could smell them coming because they traveled against the wind and surely they could have traded for grass for gass.


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Four years ago, an area social worker claimed personal knowledge of a huge grow operation in the hills above Cambria. She claimed it was run by a Mexican cartel and supported a large number of illegal immigrants in the area. I thought she was a little unstable. Two panga boats in, I’m beginning to wonder. They’re not bringing it in on these boats…


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Where do you think it came from?

It certainly wasn’t putting up from the Coronado Yacht Club…


Think that is a long or hard trip, imagine walking up from the Sonoran Desert with a bale or two on your back…


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I think it’s possible they are circumventing the border scrutiny completely. Less likely to be seen in the wee hours in San Simeon. Perhaps they were not unloading but loading?


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Not likely, those pangas are common in Central America, especially ole mexico.

And almost every bust or seizure along the coast (going back to 70s and 80’s remember the thai stick bundles that were left on the beach at Cayucos?)were coming in, not going out…


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Mexico is part of North America…


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Article says witnesses saw them carrying from boat to motor home, so……….


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Okay. Maybe they’re augmenting the local yield. Maybe not.

I saw what the “witness said” but it seems pretty vague. Which two “suspect vehicles” were stopped, and were they loaded with “parcels” of marijuana? Things have changed quite a bit from the 70s. Anything is possible in my view.


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They had help from the CIA. Money laudering is big business, children.


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I don’t think they came all the way up the coast in that panga with 1550 lbs of pot on it. I think they used that boat to smuggle themselves pass the border by night and they hooked up with a larger boat that towed that panda as if it were a dingy or life boat up the coast where the panga crew got back on bored and rowed into shore to make the delivery.


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I’d like to see the suspects booking photos, names, and immigration status.


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Check the immigrattion status ? You have to be kidding, pictures of those booked and names in an election year ? Never happen.! Story to be continued in December 2012. The ship, boat, just came up from Oxnard and it really did’nt take that long . How many more boats are We not finding ?


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