The Department of Justice (DOJ) has indicted Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel accused of collaborating with human smugglers to allow illegal aliens to be driven across the southern border into the U.S.
Multiple charges have been filed against three CBP officers, including one who may reside in Tijuana, Mexico.
Farlis Almonte, 38, Ricardo Rodriguez, 34, and Kairy Stephania Quiñonez, 31, allegedly permitted “vehicles with undocumented individuals to pass through their lanes into the U.S. without inspection while working at the San Ysidro Port of Entry” in California.
“The indictment alleges that Almonte, Rodriguez, and Quiñonez revealed their lane assignments and hours they were scheduled to work the primary inspection booths at the San Ysidro Port of Entry so that co-conspirators would know when it was safe to transport undocumented individuals across the border with impunity – sometimes using code words to gain admittance,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of California explained in a press release.
“According to the indictment, the defendants falsely reported in the Transportation Enforcement Communications System – a database known as ‘TECS’ that is used by CBP officers – the number of occupants in co-conspirators’ vehicles to conceal the fact that those vehicles contained undocumented individuals.”
The officers are facing charges that include Conspiracy to Bring in Aliens for Financial Gain and Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain, Aiding and Abetting.
Almonte and Rodriguez have also been charged with Receipt of Bribes by Public Official.
Basic defendant information listed in the press release seems to indicate Rodriguez may reside in Mexico, although it is unclear if he is a Mexican citizen.
“The allegations against Officer Rodriguez that he was participating in an alien smuggling scheme almost seem like something of a foreseeable outcome,” federal insider Hart Celler told InfoWars. “Tijuana, Mexico, isn’t an overseas assignment, like a preclearance location, so was anyone, like CBP’s Human Resources, its Office of Professional Responsibility, the department’s Counterintelligence Program, etc., aware that he was living in Tijuana before his arrest? With whom was he residing and socializing during his non-duty hours?”
“This is pertinent information that employees in national security positions, like the Office of Field Operations, must report and keep current. Were any of his coworkers or his supervisory chain aware he was living in Mexico because ‘[a]ny activity that raises doubts as to whether another covered individual’s continued national security eligibility is clearly consistent with the interests of national security’ is reportable just as any other potential red flag like suspected alcohol abuse, unexplained affluence or excessive indebtedness? Only time will tell whether this case is a one-off or the part of the iceberg below the water.”