U.S. Attorney’s Office Filed 109 Border-Related Cases This Week

SAN DIEGO - Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 109 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 April 24, Brandon Ramos Bonilla, a Mexican citizen and border crosser card holder, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers discovered 61 pounds of cocaine concealed in the roof and firewall of the defendant's vehicle as he tried to cross the border at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry.
• On April 25, Francisco Ramon Garcia and Antonio Ramos, citizens of Mexico, were arrested and charged with Attempted Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain. According to a complaint, the defendants were captains of a smuggling boat that was intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard off Point Loma with five undocumented Mexican nationals on board. Also arrested was Oscar Orozco Avilar, who was charged with Attempted Entry after Deportation.
• On April 28, Fernando Vega-Sanchez, a Mexican citizen, was arrested and charged with Attempted Entry after Deportation. According to a complaint, Vega-Sanchez was arrested by Customs and Border Protection officers at the pedestrian lanes of the San Ysidro Port of Entry after he claimed to be someone else but had no documents. Officers learned his true identity and he was taken into custody. The defendant was previously removed from the U.S. seven times.

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.