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Border Corruption: CBP Officer, Associates Smuggle Aliens for Cash
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officer and his associates have been charged with engaging in a multi-year bribery and alien smuggling operation along the U.S./Mexico border, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer Juan Carlos Guerrero, 39, of Mission, Texas, his girlfriend Claudia Flores, 34, of Mission, and Maribel Rivera, 43, of Mission, each face one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, one count of conspiracy to smuggle aliens for financial gain, and various substantive counts of bribery and alien smuggling.
Guerrero worked the midnight shift as a CBP Office of Field Operations officer at the Pharr and Anzalduas Ports of Entry near McAllen, Texas, between October 2009 and January 2011. As part of his official duties, Guerrero handled vehicle inspections of northbound traffic traveling from Mexico to the United States.
According to the indictment, Guerrero, Flores, and their associates, including Rivera and Guerrero’s nephew Jose P. Cantu, perpetrated a bribery and alien smuggling operation along the U.S./Mexico border. Guerrero and Flores allegedly charged between $1,000 and $3,000 per undocumented alien (UDA) for smuggling services. To accomplish the unlawful smuggling events, Guerrero and Flores arranged for drivers, including Cantu, to pick up UDAs in Mexico.
Guerrero allegedly facilitated the unlawful operation by permitting the UDAs to pass illegally through his inspection lane, in exchange for bribe money. In order to conceal their unlawful activities, Guerrero and Flores allegedly arranged for the majority of the illegal crossings to take place at approximately midnight – shortly before the closing of the Pharr Port of Entry.
An indictment is merely a charge and is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. A trial date for Guerrero, Rivera, and Flores has not been set. Cantu pleaded guilty in July 2012 to conspiracy to commit bribery and alien smuggling, and a separate charge of conspiracy to import marijuana and cocaine.
The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Edward J. Loya Jr. and J.P. Cooney of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section. The case is being investigated by agents from the FBI’s South Texas Border Corruption Task Force, which includes agents from the FBI, DHS ICE Office of Professional Responsibility, CBP Office of Internal Affairs, DHS Office of Inspector General, DHS CBP U.S. Border Patrol, and the Texas Rangers Division.
Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Category: Public Corruption|Human Trafficking|Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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