Three people are dead and over 20 hospitalized after a boat that was reportedly attempting to smuggle migrants into the U.S. capsized off the coast of San Diego, CA.

CNN security correspondent Josh Campbell reported to Pamela Brown about the deadly accident, noting that some of the people who were rescued and taken to the hospital were seriously injured. Campbell said that authorities believed the boat was part of a smuggling operation.

“Every indication from our perspective is that this was a smuggling vessel, smuggling migrants into the United States illegally,” said Customs and Border Protection official Jeff Stephenson. “We haven’t confirmed the nationality of the people involved. But our agents are with many of them at the hospital.”

The investigation was “still unfolding,” Stephenson continued, but they had identified and detained the man they believe was the operator of the smuggling vessel.

San Diego is about 15 miles from the U.S-Mexico border, said Campbell, and officials told CNN that smugglers frequently attempt to blend in with the shipping traffic along the coast there.

The distress call came in just after 10:20 am PT, added Campbell. The boat, he said, was “more like just a contraption” that “apparently just disintegrated” once it hit the reef. More than 30 people were on board.

“It’s worth noting that should this person actually be prosecuted, again, we’re told that he is under investigation, U.S. Federal law has significant and very stiff penalties for smugglers, especially those that engage in operations that result in death, including life in prison,” said Campbell.

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