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Witnesses testified at trial that Leonard Darnell George, 42,
agreed to allow the vehicles through his lane in late 2021 at
the San Ysidro border crossing in San Diego, the nation's
busiest port of entry, the U.S. attorney's office for the
Southern District of California said in a news release. In
February 2022, an alert placed on a suspect vehicle forced one
of those vehicles to be searched, resulting in the seizure of
222 pounds (100 kilograms) of methamphetamine.
The then-U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer later
allowed another vehicle to enter the country with 200 pounds (91
kilograms) of drugs, prosecutors said. Text messages show the
officer received $17,000 per vehicle and got $68,000 after he
allowed four vehicles to enter his lane in June 2022.
A jury convicted him of receiving bribes and other charges in
June.
“CBP does not tolerate misconduct within its ranks,” said
Elizabeth Cervantes, special agent in charge of the agency's
Office of Professional Responsibility in San Diego.
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