An HU-25 Falcon air crew and a boat crew from Coast Guard Station South Padre Island, Texas, intercepted a Mexican water craft May 13 that had been involved in illegal fishing in waters just north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The crew of the Coast Guard 33-foot Law Enforcement Special Purpose Craft seized the Mexican crew’s illegal fishing gear and released five sharks and one sea turtle into the ocean alive. Mexican boats like the one that was intercepted, called "lanchas," have been keeping Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi (which includes the South Padre Island station) busy. So far this year, units have seized 11 lanchas and more than 13 miles of illegal fishing gear, and released 513 fish and 86 sharks, plus the sea turtle. Coast Guard officials said lanchas also have been used to smuggle drugs and people into the U.S.
