Illegal immigrants paid $15,000 for boat to Santa Barbara County

December 21, 2022

By KAREN VELIE

A jury found two Mexican men guilty on Tuesday of drug and alien trafficking charges after law enforcement caught them on a panga boat containing 45 pounds of methamphetamine and 11 illegal immigrants from Mexico on a Santa Barbara County beach, the Justice Department announced today.

On the morning of Sept. 27, 2021, law enforcement sighted a panga boat adrift off the coast of Santa Barbara County. The boat, which was having engine trouble, ultimately made landfall at Arroyo Quemada Beach, approximately 25 miles west of Santa Barbara.

Law enforcement discovered 15 people on the boat, including several crewmembers and the boat’s captain, 43-year-old Roel Aranzubia-Álvarez. Two black bags containing methamphetamine were thrown off the boat by passengers at 26-year-old Jorge Muñoz-Muñoz’s direction.

All of the occupants of the boat were undocumented non-citizens. Based on interviews with the passengers, investigators determined that the passengers arrived at a beach in Ensenada, Mexico to board a panga that would smuggle them into the United States for a price of approximately $15,000 each.

A federal jury found Muñoz-Muñoz and Aranzubia-Álvarez guilty of one count of conspiracy to bring non-citizens into the United States, 11 counts of alien smuggling, 11 counts of alien smuggling for private financial gain, and one count of aiding and assisting an alien convicted of an aggravated felony to enter the United States.

Muñoz-Muñoz also was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, one count of conspiracy to import methamphetamine, and one count of importation of methamphetamine.

The men’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 10, at which time Muñoz-Muñoz will face a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison and Aranzubia-Álvarez will face a statutory maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison.