2 US Border Patrol officers are charged with taking bribes to wave in
people without documents
[April 05, 2025]
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Two U.S. border inspectors in Southern California have
been charged with taking thousands of dollars in bribes to allow people
to enter the country through the nation's busiest port of entry without
showing documents, prosecutors said.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers Farlis Almonte and Ricardo
Rodriguez were assigned to immigration inspection booths at the San
Ysidro Port of Entry. They were charged after investigators found phone
evidence showing they had exchanged messages with human traffickers in
Mexico and discovered unexplained cash deposits into their bank
accounts, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Thursday.
Surveillance video showed at least one instance in which a vehicle with
a driver and a passenger stopped at a checkpoint but only the driver was
documented as having entered the country, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said the officers waved dozens of vehicles carrying people
without documents. They said both men were paid thousands for each
vehicle they waved through.
It wasn't immediately known if Almonte has an attorney who can speak on
his behalf. The National Border Patrol Council, the union representing
Border Patrol officers, didn't immediately return an email seeking
comment.
Rodriguez’s attorney, Michael Hawkins, said the case was still in the
“infant stages” and that Rodriguez has the presumption of innocence.
"We look forward to working through the current situation,” Hawkins said
in an email in which he described Rodriguez as hardworking and loyal.
The investigation on Almonte and Rodriguez started after three migrant
smugglers who were arrested last year told federal investigators they
had been working with U.S. border inspectors, federal prosecutors said.
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Vehicles wait in line to cross the border into the United States at
the San Ysidro Port of Entry, Tuesday, March 18, 2025, in Tijuana,
Mexico. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)
While Almonte was in custody, investigators allegedly seized nearly
$70,000 in cash they believe his romantic partner was trying to move
to Tijuana. Prosecutors wrote in a court filing that Almonte is
potentially facing additional charges for money laundering and
obstruction of justice, The San Diego Union Tribune reported.
“Any Customs and Border Protection agent who aids or turns a blind
eye to smugglers bringing undocumented immigrants into the U.S. is
betraying their oath and endangering our national security,” Acting
U.S. Attorney Andrew Haden told the newspaper in a statement.
There have been five U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers
assigned to the San Diego area to face similar corruption charges in
the last two years.
Last year, former U.S. border inspector Leonard Darnell George was
sentenced to 23 years in prison for taking bribes to allow people
and drug-laden vehicles to enter the country through the San Ysidro
border crossing. Two other former border officers at the Otay Mesa
and Tecate ports of entry were charged last year with similar
charges. They are expected to go on trial this summer.
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