Two American border guards from California were accused of accepting bribes in order to enable entering the US without documents – the prosecutor's office in California said.
Key facts
- Each of the two accused officers was to obtain a total of tens of thousands of dollars thanks to their bribes.
- The prosecutor's office talks about behaviors that threaten national security.
- The border crossing at which the accused worked is the largest land border crossing in the USA.
The officers of the American Customs Office and the Protection of Borders, Farlis Almonte and Ricardo Rodriguez, working at the San Ysidro border crossing, heard allegations after the investigators found evidence in their phones indicating that they contacted people in people in Mexico and discovered “unexplained” payments of money on their bank accounts – it was given in the indictment revealed at the end of last week.
According to investigators, Almonte most likely deposited nearly 22,000. dollars (approx. PLN 86,000) in cash, while Rodriguez almost 24,000 dollars (equivalent to PLN 93 thousand). After the arrest of Almonte, the investigators confiscated nearly 70 thousand. dollars (PLN 273 thousand) in cash, which they think the man's partner tried to transport to Tijuana on the Mexican side of the border – said the newspaper “San Diego Union -Tribune”.
Thousands of dollars for entering the country
The prosecutor's office pointed to at least one recording of a situation when the driver with a passenger stopped at the checkpoint on the border, but only the driver's entry was recorded. The listed guards were to allow dozens of vehicles with passengers without documents. They received “thousands” for each such journey – says the prosecutor's office.
“Every agent of the Customs Office and Protection of Borders, which helps smugglers entering the USA with immigrants without documents or turns a blind eye, reveals a complex oath and threatens our national security” – prosecutor Andrew Haden said in a statement. “Those who are involved in such abuse will be held responsible with all the rawness of the law,” he added.
Record border crossing
San Ysidro is the largest land border crossing in the United States. In 2024, 14.8 million vehicles entering USA from Mexico – according to statistics published by the American authorities.
Source: Shutterstock
Author/author: Wac // AZ
Source: CNN, The New York Times, TVN24.pl
Source of the main photo: Shutterstock