Two indicted for alien smuggling

Charges stem from event off Torrey Pines beach where two drowned

A federal grand jury on Friday handed up a 30-count indictment charging two men with alien smuggling in connection with the drowning deaths of two immigrants off Torrey Pines State Beach.

Fernando Figueroa-Rodriguez, 50, and Javier Jimenez-Yucupicio, 45, will be arraigned Tuesday at the federal courthouse in downtown San Diego.

According to court documents, a San Diego police officer heard screams for help from the beach at 4:07 a.m. on Jan. 16 and saw a number of people attempting to swim to shore from an overturned panga-style boat.

A massive search and rescue operation was launched, and 16 people were located, all of them citizens and nationals of Mexico and Guatemala, with no documents permitting them to be in the United States, authorities said.

A 34-year-old Mexican citizen and an 18-year-old Guatemalan citizen drowned in the smuggling attempt.

The defendants were charged with bringing in illegal aliens resulting in death, bringing in illegal aliens for financial gain and bringing in illegal aliens without presentation.