U.S. Attorney’s Office Filed 111 Border-Related Cases This Week

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 111 border-related cases this week, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).

In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here.

A sample of border-related arrests this week:

• On February 3, Bulmaro Santiago-Perez, a citizen of Mexico, was arrested and charged with Deported Alien Found in the United States. According to a complaint, Border Patrol agents found the undocumented defendant hiding in brush about half mile north of the border near the Tecate Port of Entry. He was previously deported in April 2013 through Nogales, Arizona.
• On February 4, Carlos Jhovanny Estrada Perez and Jose Eduardo Corrado-Romo, citizens of Mexico, were arrested and charged with Attempted Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain. According to a complaint, they are the alleged captain and co-captain, respectively, of a vessel intercepted by Marine Interdiction Agents from Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations transporting unauthorized immigrants. Also arrested and charged were Mexican nationals Josefina Mariano Nava, Ramon Rodriguez-Cuevas and Arturo Sesma Rodriguez, for Attempted Entry After Deportation.
• On February 4, Elvin Maravillas, a United States citizen, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers found almost 20 pounds of fentanyl hidden in a non-factory compartment in the floor of the defendant’s vehicle as he tried to cross the border at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

The immigration cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.