U.S. Attorney’s Office Filed 75 Border-Related Cases This Week

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 75 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 June 6, Ana Sanchez, a United States citizen, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers at the San Ysidro Port of Entry discovered 31 pounds of fentanyl and 21 pounds hidden in the seats and quarter panels of her car. She was previously convicted of the federal offense of importing drugs into the Southern District in 2018.
• On June 9, Carlos Nunez-Valdivia, a Mexican national, was arrested and charged with Attempted Entry after Deportation . According to a complaint, Nunez-Valdivia applied for admission to the United States at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry by falsely claiming to be a lawful permanent resident. He has been previously deported at least three times.
• On June 9, Victor Manuel Garcia-Ramirez, a United States citizen, was arrested and charged with Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain. According to a complaint, Garcia-Ramirez attempted to smuggle two undocumented Chinese nationals into the United States at the San Ysidro Port of Entry inside a non-factory compartment built beneath the undercarriage of a Nissan Armada.

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.