Early-morning surfers found a suspected smugglers’ boat abandoned and washed up on the beach in Del Mar early Saturday morning.
The small outboard with a cuddy cabin was full of gas cans, life preservers and backpacks, though no passengers were found near the boat, which was at the foot of 8th Street.
Lifeguards called the San Diego Sheriff’s Department around 6:30 a.m., and deputies in turn alerted the Border Patrol.
The boat’s gas cans were leaking fuel into the ocean and lifeguards started removing them from the boat.
Local residents told media on the scene that so-called “panga” boats wash up frequently.
