LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Two men were arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle 50 Mexicans into the United States by crowding them into the small cabin of a rented luxury yacht.

The 44-foot boat was intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard near an entrance to Los Angeles Harbor late Monday, the Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday.

The immigrants, who were packed into an area designed to sleep eight people, were near the end of a daylong journey from the Mexican port city of Ensenada, officials said. They included a 3-year-old boy and woman in the last month of pregnancy.

Customs officials said the attempt shows the increasing desperation of smugglers because of increased border security in Arizona and Southern California.

The immigrants told investigators they had paid $3,000 each for the trip, officials said.

The men arrested were identified as Gregory Ray Labono, 48, from Lomita; and Vernon Eugene Siegel, 21, of Big Pine, Florida.

Both were in federal custody. An attorney for the men did not immediately return a call for comment.

Copyright 2004 The Associated Press.