Crime & Safety

Panga Boat, 1200 Pounds of Marijuana Seized on North Coast

A State Parks lifeguard discovered a drug smuggling operation during a routine beach patrol Saturday.

By Jennifer Squires

A lifeguard led the apprehension of four men suspected of smuggling 175 bundles of marijuana on a 35-foot Panga boat Saturday morning at Shark Tooth Cove, a remote beach about 30 miles south of Half Moon Bay in Davenport, the Santa Cruz County Anti-Crime Team (SCCACT) head reported. 

The bust happened while the lifeguard was on a routine patrol of North Coast beaches, according to SCCACT Cmdr. Mario Sulay. Four men were "acting suspiciously." That, coupled with the Panga boat—which is commonly used to smuggle contraband from Mexico to the U.S.—heightened suspicions.

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The men tried to flee.

The lifeguard called for backup, initiating a response from the Sheriff's Office, CalFire law enforcement, UC-Santa Cruz police, the California Highway Patrol and a Capitola police dog.

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After an extensive search, four men were aprehended. Silviano Davalos Jr, 30, San Luis; and Los Angeles residents Jose Luis Martinez-Ruiz, 34, Alex Cerna, 24, and Jose Martin Garcia, 30; were arrested on suspicion of transporting marijuana. 

There were 175 separate bundles of marijuana stacked on the beach. The weed is worth about $2.1 million on the street, Sulay said.

The U.S. Coast Guard and the Santa Cruz Harbor Patrol recovered the Panga boat. The Anti-Crime Team and agents from Homeland Security are investigating.

The seized Panga boat hada large capacity fuel tank on board. Boats equipped such as this have been commonly found to have been used by drug traffickers to smuggle drugs from south of the Mexican border, up the California coast, and into the United States after landing on isolated beaches, according to Sulay.

However, Panga boat captures are rare in Santa Cruz County, which is about 500 miles north of the Mexican border. Six Panga-style boats have been discovered near San Luis Obispo, about 170 miles south of Santa Cruz, in the past 15 months.


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