2 Customs and Border Protection Officers Charged for Taking Bribes to Allow Illegal Immigrants Entry

The officers were allegedly paid thousands of dollars in cash to allow the entry of the vehicles into the country.

Vehicles wait in line to cross the border into the United States at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in Tijuana, Mexico, on March 18, 2025. Gregory Bull, File/AP Photo

The Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Friday that two Customs and Border Protection officers have been arrested for allegedly taking bribes to allow cars with illegal immigrants to cross the border into the United States.

Farlis Almonte and Ricardo Rodriguez were arrested on March 24 on charges of conspiring to smuggle illegal immigrants into the country for financial gain, according to a criminal complaint unsealed on April 4.

They were accused of letting dozens of cars carrying illegal immigrants to pass through the immigration inspection lanes at the San Ysidro Port of Entry—one of the world’s busiest land border crossings, connecting San Diego and Mexico’s Tijuana—from August 2024 to January 2025.

Prosecutors said that the pair allegedly informed co-conspirators of their work schedules and the entry point to which they were assigned, according to the criminal complaint.

They allegedly waved some vehicles through the entry point and only documented the drivers on the system, even though the cars were carrying multiple passengers who were unauthorized to enter the country, prosecutors stated.

Court documents cited statements and phone evidence taken from three people who were arrested last year while trying to cross the border. These individuals, only referred to as “reactive defendants” in court documents, said their smuggling coordinator was working with officers.

Both Almonte and Rodriguez were allegedly paid thousands of dollars in cash to allow the entry of the vehicles into the country.

Prosecutors said Almonte deposited nearly $22,000 in cash into his bank account in small deposits between August and November 2024, while Rodriguez deposited almost $24,000 in late November last year.

Rodriguez’s lawyer, Michael Hawkins, said the case is still in its early stages. He described his client as a hardworking person loyal to his family.

“Certainly, he has the presumption of innocence, and we look forward to working through the current situation,” Hawkins said in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times.

Almonte’s attorney has declined to comment.

The case bears a similarity to that of former U.S. border inspector Leonard Darnell George, who allowed illegal immigrants and vehicles carrying methamphetamine and other illicit drugs to pass through the immigration inspection entry in exchange for payments. George was found guilty last year and sentenced to 23 years in prison.

Meanwhile, the DOJ stated Friday that federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 97 border-related cases this week, including the cases of Almonte and Rodriguez.

In the same week that Almonte and Rodriguez were arrested, authorities also apprehended three Mexican nationals on separate charges, including drug smuggling and illegal reentry into the United States, according to a DOJ statement.

Two other Mexican men, Miguel Angel Gonzalez Lujan and Jesus Miguel Gonzalez Garcia, were arrested on March 31 near the U.S.-Mexico border in Campo for allegedly transporting illegal immigrants. Border patrol agents used a spike strip to deflate their car’s front tires and later found four illegal immigrants inside.

Correction: A previous version of this article misstated the federal agency that employs Farlis Almonte and Ricardo Rodriguez. The Epoch Times regrets the error.