Feds Charge 3 Mexican Nationals in Connection with Pot-Filled Boat

Three Mexican nationals were facing federal drug smuggling charges today in connection with a two-ton marijuana haul found on a panga boat that washed up on a Malibu-area beach Monday.

Carlos Millan-Rogel, Jesus Aaron Guevara-Moreno and Victor Ayala-Marin are named in a criminal complaint filed Monday in Los Angeles federal court.

The charge of "knowingly and intentionally possessing with intent to distribute marijuana on board a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States" carries a sentence of 10 to 40 years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The boat, about 30 feet in length and carrying about 95 bales of pot wrapped in green plastic, was discovered around 8 a.m. Monday on the beach just south of the Ventura County line, authorities said.

Deputies from the sheriff's Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff's Station responded to a call from park rangers at Leo Carrillo State Beach in an unincorporated area near Malibu.

The rangers called for sheriff's deputies because the boat had washed ashore leaking gasoline and smelling strongly of marijuana.

The suspects were arrested near the boat, officials said.

--City News Service