U.S. Attorney’s Office Filed 114 Border-Related Cases This Week

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 114 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 8, Raul Rodriguez, a U.S. citizen, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers discovered 55 packages containing 137 pounds of methamphetamine concealed in the front and rear bumpers of the defendant’s vehicle’s  as he tried to cross the border at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
• On February 11, Gelacio Ortiz-Dominguez, a citizen of Mexico, was arrested and charged with Attempted Entry after Deportation. According to a complaint, Ortiz was intercepted by Customs and Border Protection officers as he ran northbound in the primary vehicle lanes at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. The defendant was previously removed from the U.S. in 2022, and at least twice before that.
• On February 9, Juan Manuel Estrada Cortez and Manuel Monterrosa Mendoza, citizens of Mexico, were arrested and charged with Transportation of Illegal Aliens. According to a complaint, the defendants were arrested by Border Patrol agents north of the border, about eight miles east of Tecate, after a brief chase. The defendants and three others fled their disabled vehicle after its tires were deflated by the Border Patrol’s Vehicle Immobilization Device was deployed.

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.