Alleged captain of panga charged in capsizing deaths of four migrants in Imperial Beach

Survivors said they boarded the small blue boat in Rosarito late Friday night. As it headed north to the United States, engine trouble hit.

The captain began to argue with others about whether to head back to Mexico, one survivor told authorities, according to court records filed in the incident.

The captain pressed ahead, the surviving passenger said, according to court documents, and called someone to request a closer drop location.

Four people died when the boat capsized near the shore in Imperial Beach. On Monday, federal prosecutors filed charges against the alleged captain.

David Alfonso Barrera, a 37-year-old Mexican national, was arrested on Saturday and charged with two counts related to smuggling immigrants for financial gain and smuggling resulting in death.

Another man, a 39-year-old Mexican national who was aboard the panga, was charged with re-entering the country days after he was removed on Nov. 3.

Late Friday night, U.S. Border Patrol agents were notified of a panga boat crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. An hour later, agents spotted the capsized vessel with several people emerging from the waters off Imperial Beach.

Of the nine people believed to have been aboard the vessel, four died and five were rescued, detained or both, federal officials said. A probable cause statement attached to the criminal complaint lays out what investigators learned from the survivors.

When the boat rolled, a man and his adult granddaughter were trapped inside.

The grandfather told agents he was able to free her, but he remained trapped and injured. A piece of metal had penetrated his leg.

He told authorities that he believed he was going to die. Someone pulled him free.

His granddaughter told agents that about a week before the fatal boat trip, she was part of a different failed maritime smuggling attempt that resulted in her being returned to Mexico.

She said she immediately headed back to Tijuana and met up with smugglers for another attempt.

Another passenger said he had been instructed to sit in the cabin of the small vessel during the trip. When the boat flipped, he managed to find a pocket of air. Others were submerged with him.

A wave flipped the boat again, according to the statement, and he was free.

Not able to swim and fearing he was going to drown, he somehow made it to the shore and was helped by Border Patrol agents.

The five survivors — all said they were Mexican citizens — were detained and taken to a hospital to be evaluated, according to the probable cause statement.

Barrera, the accused captain, told authorities that he had paid more than $13,000 to be smuggled across the border and had planned to go to Los Angeles, according to the court document. He told investigators another person was the operator of the boat, a skinny man around his age. But when he was shown photos of all the people rescued or recovered from the incident, he said the operator was not in the photographs.

The man charged with illegal re-entry — who told agents he’d agreed to pay about $16,000 to be brought to the U.S. and was hoping to be with family in the Riverside area — was convicted of a felony in 2012 and deported from the U.S. The court document states he has had his order of removal reinstated three times — the last removal came less than two weeks before the deadly capsizing.

“Bad weather, rough seas, a dangerous and overloaded vessel — these were all risks that smugglers were willing to disregard in their desire for profit,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon in a statement. “Maritime smuggling is extremely dangerous, and we will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law every individual responsible for these preventable tragedies.”

Federal prosecutors identified the three deceased men as Bartolo Baltazar Baltazar, Epifanio Molina Bravo and Hector Lopez Lopez. The Mexican Consulate in San Diego confirmed that they were Mexican nationals, two from the state of Veracruz and one from Guanajuato. A woman who has not yet been identified was also among the victims.

The survivors, four men and one woman, were interviewed by consulate officials.

Consul General in San Diego Alicia Kerber said the Mexican Consulate is contacting the victims’ families and offering assistance.

She urged migrants not to put themselves in the hands of human smugglers, who, she said, “do not care about human lives.”

Hundreds of maritime smuggling incidents have been recorded within the San Diego sector this year.

Data from the U.S. Border Patrol shows that in fiscal 2025, which ended Sept. 30, there were 490 maritime smuggling events, resulting in 1,526 apprehensions. The previous fiscal year recorded 589 such incidents and 1,375 apprehensions.

“This event underscores the very real danger and consequences of crossing the border illegally,” said San Diego Sector Chief Border Patrol Agent Justin De La Torre. “The decision of this smuggling organization to carelessly risk the lives of everyone involved is truly inexcusable.”

The U.S. Coast Guard announced earlier this year that it had tripled its resources on the southern border “to enhance border security, immigration enforcement, and to protect the territorial integrity of the United States.”

In January, a 57-year-old Mexican woman drowned when the smuggling boat she was on capsized in heavy surf off the coast of Ocean Beach. More than 20 people were swept into the water.

Then, in May, four people, including two Indian children and two Mexican men, died when a panga boat carrying 19 people capsized off the coast of Del Mar.

Federal prosecutors charged five people in connection with the incident, including Sergio Rojas Fregoso, 31, who was sentenced on Monday to 16 months in prison after admitting to transporting some of the migrants from the shoreline to other locations, according to court records.

Two defendants who are accused of piloting the boat are awaiting trial. Two others who also picked up the migrants have pleaded guilty.