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CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Coast Guard interdicted three lanchas and seized 2,160 pounds of illegally caught fish in federal waters off southern Texas, Thursday.
Boat crews from Coast Guard Station South Padre Island and Coast Guard Cutter Jacob Poroo, in coordination with Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi aircrews, located and stopped a total of 13 Mexican fishermen engaged in illegal fishing north of the Maritime Boundary Line.
After interdicting the lanchas, Coast Guard personnel seized 2,160 pounds of red snapper, along with fishing gear and high flyers on board the vessels. Coast Guard crews detained the Mexican fishermen, brought them ashore and transferred the detainees to U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel for further processing.
A lancha is a fishing boat used by Mexican fishermen that is approximately 20-30 feet long with a slender profile, having one outboard motor, and is capable of traveling at speeds exceeding 30 mph. Lanchas are frequently used to transport illegal narcotics to the U.S. and illegally fish in the United States’ Exclusive Economic Zone near the U.S./Mexico border in the Gulf of Mexico.
If you witness suspicious activity or illegal fishing in Texas state waters (from land to 9 miles offshore), please contact “Operation Game Thief” at 1-800-792-GAME (4263). For all suspicious activity or illegal fishing occurring in federal waters (out to 200 miles offshore), please contact the U.S. Coast Guard at 361-939-0450.
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