Updated: Panga Boat Arrives Bearing Almost a Ton of Pot; DHS Arrests 2

By City News Service. Additional contributions are from reader Dan Wickemeyer.

U.S. Customs and Homeland Security agents nabbed two would-be Mexican drug smugglers in the predawn hours Saturday and seized their panga boat filled with nearly a ton of marijuana, a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman told City News Service.

The arrests took place shortly before 3 a.m. at El Porto Beach, south of Dockweiller Beach State Park, said Lori Haley, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

A Manhattan Beach police dispatcher confirmed to CNS the boat came ashore near the intersection of Ocean Drive and 44th Street. The dispatcher also said the case was being handled by the U.S. Customs office near San Clemente.

"Officers with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection/Border Patrol were conducting routine surveillance operations in the El Porto Beach area and observed what appeared to be a panga, approaching the shoreline,'' Haley said. A panga is an open, medium-sized outboard-powered fishing boat commonly used in Mexico. "Agents responded to the scene and encountered several individuals and bundles consistent with bulk marijuana,'' Haley continued.

The agents found and detained two Mexican citizens who were attempting to smuggle in approximately 1,850 pounds of marijuana. Their names were not released by Haley, but they were arrested and held for questioning by Homeland Security Investigations agents, she said.

A news videographer from Multimedios who was at the scene told CNS the two Mexican nationals were found hiding behind a sand dune by the federal agents. The would-be smugglers landed their boat on the beach on a bright, full- moon night, which made it much easier for authorities to spot them.

The investigation into this drug-smuggling attempt was ongoing, Haley said. It's being handled by a multi-agency Los Angeles Border Enforcement Security Task force known as LA BEST, she added.

Patch reader Dan Wickemeyer sent photos from the activity to Patch, as well as this account:

"My name is Dan Wickemeyer and I awoken this morning at 4AM by police helicopter buzzing out side at the beach, A man with a metal detector walking the beach had called 911 when he spotted a 20 foot  white wood Panga boat filled with what looked like drugs. The boat said Ensendad, LA MINA on it. We watched while the police and coast guard unloaded the packages into the parking lot for an hour then a deceptive yield from the bushes. "I have a body" And the police all ran into the bushes and found 2 men."