The officers were allegedly paid thousands of dollars in cash to allow the entry of the vehicles into the country.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Friday that two border patrol officers have been arrested for allegedly taking bribes to allow cars with illegal immigrants to cross the border into the United States.
Farlis Almonte and Ricardo Rodriguez were arrested on March 24 on charges of conspiring to smuggle illegal immigrants into the country for financial gain, according to a criminal complaint unsealed on April 4.
They were accused of letting dozens of cars carrying illegal immigrants to pass through the immigration inspection lanes at the San Ysidro Port of Entry—one of the world’s busiest land border crossings, connecting San Diego and Mexico’s Tijuana—from August 2024 to January 2025.
Prosecutors said that the pair allegedly informed co-conspirators of their work schedules and the entry point to which they were assigned, according to the criminal complaint.
They allegedly waved some vehicles through the entry point and only documented the drivers on the system, even though the cars were carrying multiple passengers who were unauthorized to enter the country, prosecutors stated.
Court documents cited statements and phone evidence taken from three people who were arrested last year while trying to cross the border. These individuals, only referred to as “reactive defendants” in court documents, said their smuggling coordinator was working with border patrol officers.
Both Almonte and Rodriguez were allegedly paid thousands of dollars in cash to allow the entry of the vehicles into the country.
Prosecutors said Almonte deposited nearly $22,000 in cash into his bank account in small deposits between August and November 2024, while Rodriguez deposited almost $24,000 in late November last year.
The Epoch Times has reached out to both of their attorneys for comment and did not receive a response by publication time.
The case bears a similarity to that of former U.S. border inspector Leonard Darnell George, who allowed illegal immigrants and vehicles carrying methamphetamine and other illicit drugs to pass through the immigration inspection entry in exchange for payments. George was found guilty last year and sentenced to 23 years in prison.
