U.S. Attorney’s Office Filed 126 Border-Related Cases This Week

SAN DIEGO - Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 126 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 February 27, Ulises Gallardo, a United States citizen, was arrested and charged with Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain. According to a complaint, when the defendant applied for entry into the U.S. in his vehicle at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, Customs and Border Protection officers inspected the vehicle and discovered a human foot sticking out of the gas tank. The officers removed the rear passenger seats and carpet and found an access panel in the metal flooring of the vehicle, secured by what appeared to be weld marks. An officer began to pry open the access panel and found a woman lying in a puddle of gasoline in a non-factory gas tank compartment. She seemed to be in distress, unable to exit the compartment. She was disoriented and had what appeared to be chemical burns on her legs and feet. The woman, a citizen of Mexico without legal documents to enter the U.S., was treated at a hospital. She later told officers she was in the gas tank for about 90 minutes, covered in sweat and soaked in gasoline and unable to breathe. She said she felt very dizzy from the gas fumes and felt like she was burning alive but couldn't get out because she was trapped inside the gas tank.
• On February 27, Jose Angel Vidal Ayala, a Mexican citizen, was arrested and charged with Attempted Entry after Deportation. According to a complaint, Border Patrol agents intercepted Vidal north of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry in a group of undocumented immigrants. He was previously deported to Mexico through Calexico.
• On March 3, Benny Jesus Niz Ledezma, a United States citizen, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers discovered seven packages containing 19 pounds of cocaine concealed in a non-factory compartment behind the radio of the vehicle when he applied for entry into the U.S. at 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.