(CNN)Several migrants who allegedly got off a boat at a beach in Palm Beach, Florida, were taken into custody Friday, CNN affiliate WPTV reported.
At least 12 undocumented people, most of them Chinese nationals, were part of a "smuggling venture," said Nestor Yglesias, a Homeland Security Investigations spokesman.
Five Chinese men, two Chinese women, two Cuban women and a man from the Bahamas were being processed by Border Patrol agents, Yglesias told CNN.
Two other Chinese nationals were detained hours later after a K9 unit found them "hiding in some foliage not far from the beach," said Peter Daniel, an assistant chief patrol agent for Border Patrol's Miami sector.
The beach is just a few miles north of President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago property, where he plans to spend the weekend.
Michael Ogrodnick, a Palm Beach police spokesman, told WPTV that a resident called police to report that a boat came ashore and that several people were disembarking from the vessel.
The boat was a 20-foot-long single-engine outboard, Daniel said.
Smugglers frequently come ashore in that area due to its proximity to the Bahamas, where ventures frequently originate, Daniel said. He added the vessel was dangerously inadequate for a 40-50 mile trip with the amount of people aboard.
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