Federal authorities detained 10 suspected illegal immigrants near Malibu on Wednesday morning, said Virginia Kice, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman.
"We believe that they were aboard a vessel called a panga [the type normally used for smuggling]," Kice said.
Kice said the individuals were found just west of the Ventura County line near Pacific Coast Highway. One woman had a broken nose and a man had a broken leg.
After interviewing the pair, officials learned they suffered the injuries while coming ashore from the vessel. Both were hospitalized.
The U.S Coast Guard searched for the vessel but could not find it, Kice said.
An abandoned boat suspected of being a vessel for human smuggling was also found in the Malibu area in March.
The heightened enforcement targeting maritime human smuggling has resulted in an increase in the prosecution of these cases.
In the past year, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Orange County has brought charges against at least 17 individuals tied to maritime smuggling schemes, Kice said.
