Tuesday, April 8, 2025 - Two U.S. border inspectors in Southern California have been charged with taking thousands of dollars in bribes to allow people to enter the country through the nation's busiest port of entry without showing documents, prosecutors said.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers Farlis Almonte
and Ricardo Rodriguez were assigned to immigration inspection booths at the San
Ysidro Port of Entry. They were charged after investigators found phone
evidence showing they had exchanged messages with human traffickers in
Mexico and discovered unexplained cash deposits in their bank accounts,
according to a criminal complaint unsealed Thursday.
Surveillance video showed at least one instance in which a
vehicle with a driver and a passenger stopped at a checkpoint but only the
driver was documented as having entered the country, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said the officers waved dozens of vehicles
carrying people without documents. They said both men were paid thousands for
each vehicle they waved through.
It wasn't immediately known if Almonte has an attorney who
can speak on his behalf. The National Border Patrol Council, the union
representing Border Patrol officers, didn't immediately return an email seeking
comment.
Rodriguez's attorney, Michael Hawkins, said the case was
still in the "infant stages" and that Rodriguez has the presumption
of innocence.
"We look forward to working through the current
situation," Hawkins said in an email in which he described Rodriguez as
hardworking and loyal.
The investigation on Almonte and Rodriguez started after
three migrant smugglers who were arrested last year told federal investigators
they had been working with U.S. border inspectors, federal prosecutors said.
While Almonte was in custody, investigators allegedly seized
nearly $70,000 in cash they believe his romantic partner was trying to move to
Tijuana. Prosecutors wrote in a court filing that Almonte is potentially facing
additional charges for money laundering and obstruction of justice, The San
Diego Union-Tribune reported.
"Any Customs and Border Protection agent who aids or
turns a blind eye to smugglers bringing undocumented immigrants into the U.S.
is betraying their oath and endangering our national security," Acting
U.S. Attorney Andrew Haden told the newspaper in a statement.
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