U.S. Attorney’s Office Filed 116 Border-Related Cases This Week

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 116 border-related cases this week, including charges of transportation of illegal aliens, bringing in aliens for financial gain, receipt of bribes by public official, reentering the U.S. after deportation, deported alien found in the United States, 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, includes:

• On April 10, six Mexican nationals were arrested and charged with various immigration crimes. According to complaints, they were apprehended by Border Patrol agents while attempting to illegally enter the U.S. about three miles east of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. While an agent turned his attention to two other suspected illegal border crossers, the six defendants absconded after being placed in handcuffs. Jose Lastra Palafox, Pedro Orlando Aguilar-Vazquez, Javier Eduardo Jimenez Gonzalez, Jose Javier Solis Jardon, Joel Alonso Soria-Garcia, and Lazaro Velazquez Morales were later recaptured.
• On April 6, Jose Manuel Guzman, a United States citizen, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, he was intercepted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers when a drug detection dog alerted to his vehicle as he attempted to cross the border at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. Officers found 115 packages of methamphetamine weighing 125 pounds, concealed in the quarter panels, gas tank and doors of the vehicle, the complaint said.
• On April 7, Raul Vallejo-Isordia, Victor Manuel Quintero Sanez, Noe Avila, Jose Juan Cisneros-Cisneros and Valentin Gonzalez-Elizalde – all Mexican nationals - were arrested and charged with Attempted Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain and Attempted Entry after Deportation. According to a complaint, the defendants were taken into custody in connection with the smuggling of 17 undocumented immigrants who were intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard 12 miles west of Point Loma.
• Also on April 7, Dennis Geovanny Marquez-Cordova of Honduras was arrested and charged with Deported Alien Found in the United States. According to a complaint, the defendant had been previously deported.

Federal law enforcement has focused immigration prosecutions on undocumented aliens who are engaged in criminal activity in the U.S., including those who commit drug and firearms crimes, who have serious criminal records, or who have active warrants for their arrest. Federal authorities have also been prioritizing investigations and prosecutions against drug, firearm, and human smugglers and those who endanger and threaten the safety of our communities and the law enforcement officers who protect the community.

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.