U.S. Attorney’s Office Filed 88 Border-Related Cases This Week

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 88 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 January 9, Alonso Marquez-Arreola, a citizen of Mexico, was arrested and charged with Attempted Entry after Deportation. According to a complaint, the defendant presented false documents to officers at the San Ysidro Port of Entry pedestrian lanes. He was most recently removed from the United States on November 11, 2025 through Atlanta, Georgia.
• On January 11, Juan Vizcarra, a United States citizen, was arrested and charged with Felon in Possession of a Firearm. According to a complaint, when Vizcarra applied for entry to the United States at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry, Customs and Border Protection officers observed that he exhibited slurred speech and droopy eyes with an open beer bottle and a bottle of Fireball inside the vehicle. He was referred to secondary inspection. Officers then found a 9mm Beretta semi-automatic firearm with a Beretta magazine and three 9mm rounds in the center console of his vehicle. Vizcarra has several felony convictions, including burglary, vehicle theft and first-degree robbery.
• On January 11, Erick Alexander Becerra-Rocha, a lawful permanent resident of the U.S., was arrested and charged with Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers found two undocumented Mexican immigrants in the trunk of the defendant’s car as he attempted to enter the U.S. at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
• On January 12, Ernesto Carrillo Jr., a United States citizen, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers found 60 packages containing 61 pounds of methamphetamine concealed in the gas tank of the defendant’s vehicle.

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.