According to authorities, two US border inspectors in Southern California have been accused of accepting bribes totaling thousands of dollars to let individuals enter the country through the busiest port of entry in the country without presenting proper documentation.
At the San Ysidro Port of Entry, immigration inspection booths were manned by Farlis Almonte and Ricardo Rodriguez, both US Customs and Border Protection officials.
According to a federal complaint filed Thursday, they were charged after investigators discovered phone evidence indicating they had communicated with human traffickers in Mexico and suspicious cash transactions into their bank accounts.
According to prosecutors, surveillance footage revealed at least one incident where a car carrying a driver and a passenger pulled to a stop at a checkpoint, but only the driver was recorded as having entered the nation.
The officers allegedly waved at scores of cars transporting undocumented individuals, according to the prosecution.
Both men reportedly received hundreds of dollars for each car they waved through.
Whether Almonte has a lawyer who can represent him was not immediately known.
Michael Hawkins, Rodriguez’s lawyer, stated that Rodriguez has the presumption of innocence and that the case is still in its “infant stages.”
In an email, Hawkins said, “We look forward to working through the current situation.” He characterized Rodriguez as devoted and diligent.
According to federal prosecutors, the inquiry into Almonte and Rodriguez began after three migrant smugglers who were detained last year admitted to cooperating with US border inspectors.
Investigators allegedly confiscated about $70,000 in cash while Almonte was in detention because they think his love partner was attempting to go to Tijuana.
According to The San Diego Union Tribune, prosecutors stated in a court document that Almonte may be charged with more money laundering and obstruction of justice offenses.
In a statement to the newspaper, Acting US Attorney Andrew Haden said, “Any Customs and Border Protection officer who assists or ignores smugglers bringing undocumented immigrants into the US is betraying their oath and endangering our national security.”
In the past two years, five US Customs and Border Protection officers stationed in the San Diego region have been charged with similar corruption offenses.
Leonard Darnell George, a former US border inspector, received a 23-year prison sentence last year for accepting bribes to open the San Ysidro border crossing and let individuals and cars carrying drugs into the United States.
Similar charges were brought against two other former border officials at the ports of entry in Tecate and Otay Mesa last year.
The trial is anticipated to take place this summer.
This information has been sourced from NY Post.
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