U.S. Attorney’s Office Filed 85 Border-Related Cases This Week

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 85 border-related cases this week, including charges of assault on a federal officer, 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 August 8, Luanna Astiazaran, a U.S. citizen, was arrested and charged with Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain. According to a complaint, the defendant applied for admission to the U.S. at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. Customs and Border Protection officers found an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala hiding in the rear right quarter panel. The woman had to be extracted from the vehicle and needed medical assistance.
• On August 9, Emmanuel Ramirez Santiago, a U.S. citizen, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, the defendant attempted to cross through the San Ysidro Port of Entry when a canine detection dog alerted underneath the driver’s side tailgate area of his Toyota Tacoma. Customs and Border Protection officers discovered 162 packages containing 203 pounds of methamphetamine hidden in the vehicle.
• On August 10, Juan Hernandez-Diaz, a Mexican citizen, was arrested and charged with Deported Alien Found in the United States. According to a complaint, U.S. Border Patrol agents intercepted the defendant as he walked through the brush, approximately four miles east of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry and six miles north of the United Sates/Mexico International boundary. He had previously been deported in May from Brownsville, Texas.

Pursuant to the Department’s Operation Take Back America priorities, 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.