U.S. Attorney’s Office Filed 119 Border-Related Cases This Week

SAN DIEGO - Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 119 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 May 23, Diego Salinas, a U.S. citizen, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers found more than 104 pounds of methamphetamine concealed in the firewall, dashboard and both front seats of a vehicle driven by the defendant. Salinas, who had applied for entry to the U.S. at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, admitted being paid $5,000 to smuggle narcotics into the U.S.
• On May 23, Juan David Garzon Laverde, Ivan Sendejas-Cervantes, Jose Luis Cardoso-Aguilera, Jose Alfredo Hernandez-Medina and Antonio Palacios-Ruiz - all Mexican nationals - were arrested and charged in connection with a maritime smuggling event. According to a complaint, Garzon, the alleged boat captain, was charged with Attempted Transportation of Illegal Aliens; Sendejas-Cervantes, who was allegedly guiding the aliens across the beach in Carlsbad after the boat came ashore, was charged with Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain; and the remaining defendants were charged with Attempted Entry after Deportation.
• On May 27, Jose Luis Cruz-Cruz, a Mexican national, was arrested and charged with Attempted Entry after Deportation. According to a complaint, Border Patrol agents found Cruz hiding in a bush about 100 yards north of the border and five miles west of the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

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.