by On Monday, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer from San Diego entered a guilty plea to federal drug importation charges for permitting drug-containing vehicles to cross inspection lanes at the border between the United States and Mexico.
Just before his trial for permitting drivers to enter the Otay Mesa Port of Entry in vehicles filled with drugs, 30-year-old Diego Bonillo entered a guilty plea to smuggling heroin, fentanyl, and methamphetamine as well as conspiring to import drugs.
According to Bonillo’s plea deal, he collaborated with a drug trafficking group based in Mexico as part of the conspiracy.
A few weeks prior to Bonillo’s plea, Jesse Clark Garcia, a CBP officer stationed in San Diego, also entered a guilty plea to several related counts.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, both men communicated with members of the drug-trafficking organization in private using coded messages to inform them of their work schedules and designated lanes.
According to the prosecution, the cops were able to live far beyond their means thanks to the money they received as part of the drug trafficking conspiracy.
According to prosecutors’ court filings from the previous year, which referenced anonymous sources, Garcia, 37, received tens of thousands of dollars for each car he brought into the country.
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According to the documents, he co-owned a horse racing stable, had many cars, owned a house in San Diego, had a projected ranch in Mexico that was being built, and bought expensive Burberry clothing and Louis Vuitton stuff.
According to the prosecution, Bonillo had taken several expensive trips both domestically and overseas and was arrested in Las Vegas last year while in possession of overpriced tickets to a well-known boxing bout.
Later this year, both men are scheduled to get their sentences.
