Two border patrol officers in San Diego have pleaded not guilty after they were arrested for allegedly working for an unnamed Mexican drug trafficking organization, allowing vehicles loaded with fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine to cross the border unchecked.
Details of the case had previously not been reported, but were partially laid out in a search warrant affidavit unsealed Tuesday in federal court in San Diego, as well as in other filings by prosecutors in recent months, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune, which originally reported the story.
The documents show that Jesse Garcia and Diego Bonillo, U.S. border patrol officers in the border city were charged in May with an 11-count indictment, accusing the pair with importation of methamphetamines, fentanyl and cocaine. They face more than a decade in prison, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Prosecutors allege that Garcia and Bonillo combined allowed more than 1,150 pounds of drugs into the U.S. on five occasions between April 2021 and February of this year. That total only accounts for the drugs that authorities later seized,
The arrest was made after an investigation by the FBI's Border Corruption Task Force found the two men had "profited handsomely" from collaborating with the unnamed cartel, earning tens of thousands of dollars for each drug-laden vehicle they ushered into the U.S. without scrutiny. Their recent spending habits showed the profits they made from their collaboration.
Garcia was spending far above the means of a border patrol officer, buying $2,000 handbags and clothing from Louis Vuitton and Burberry, prosecutors allege. He also owned a $65,000 GMC Yukon, a home in San Diego and a racehorse business all while he was building himself a large ranch in Mexico. His reported income was about $5,000 per month.
Likewise, Bonillo, whose annual salary as a border agent was about $65,000, spent more than $13,000 in travel expenses between November and March. Bonillo was arrested in Las Vegas where he was staying at the Aria Resort and had $2,000 tickets to a Canelo Alvarez boxing match.
A CBP spokesperson did not respond to Union-Tribune's questions about the officers, including their employment status with the agency.
"We do not tolerate misconduct within our ranks. When we discover any alleged or potential misconduct, we immediately refer it for investigation and cooperate fully with any criminal or administrative investigations," the spokesperson said. "This is the case whether the alleged misconduct occurs on or off duty. Federal privacy laws prohibit discussion of individual cases."
Garcia and Bonillo's arrests came exactly one month before their former CBP colleague, Leonard Darnell George, went on trial in a similar but seemingly unrelated case. A federal jury convicted George in June of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for allowing smugglers to bring drugs and undocumented migrants through his inspection lane at San Ysidro Port of Entry.
"Corruption undermines the integrity of our border security and poses a grave threat to public safety," U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath told the Union-Tribune in a statement Wednesday. "Allegations that border officials are complicit in fentanyl trafficking are especially troubling. This office will bring those who put our community at risk to justice."
The two Border Patrol agents have been held without bail since May, accused of being dangerous to the community and flight risk, according to a federal magistrate judge. The duo is due back in court on October 25.
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