San Diego Border Agents Accused of Working With Cartel, Allowing Drugs Through Inspection Lanes

Two United States Customs and Border Protection officers in San Diego have been accused of working with an unnamed Mexican drug trafficking organization to allow vehicles containing fentanyl , heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine to pass unchecked through their inspection lanes.

Knewz.com has learned that the two officers had been splurging on a lavish lifestyle prior to their arrest earlier in 2024—something that would not have been possible on their federal government salaries.

Prosecutors have alleged that the border agents Jesse Clark Garcia and Diego Bonillo were “paid handsomely” for letting vehicles laden with drugs enter the U.S. without inspection through the Otay Mesa and Tecate ports.

According to the search warrant affidavit that was unsealed on September 5 in federal court in San Diego, the two border protection officers together allowed 1,150 pounds of drugs into the U.S. over five occasions.

It has been reported that for each vehicle they allowed to pass without scrutiny, Garcia and Bonillo were paid tens of thousands of dollars.

Prior to their arrests, one of them had splurged thousands of dollars on luxury items from Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Burberry.

In addition, he owned a stake in a horse racing stable and was building a large home on a Mexican ranch, while the other went on multiple vacations to Europe.

According to the indictment and other court documents, the first instance of drugs being passed into the nation through Garcia’s inspection lane occurred in April 2021.

Prosecutors have also brought up another instance from August 2023, which was reported by The San Diego Union-Tribune :

“Garcia was assigned to a pedestrian lane in Tecate when he suddenly asked another officer working in a vehicle inspection lane to switch with him. Moments after the switch, Garcia waved through the border a woman driving a Toyota Camry.”

“Not long after that, Garcia’s shift ended and he headed back toward San Diego on state Route 94, followed closely by the driver of the Camry.”

“Agents at a Border Patrol checkpoint along the highway allowed Garcia in his own vehicle to pass but stopped the Camry. Inside the car, the agents found more than 475 pounds of cocaine and nearly 9 pounds of fentanyl, according to prosecutors.”

“The Camry’s driver later pleaded guilty to two federal charges and admitted her car was loaded with drugs when it passed through Garcia’s border inspection lane. Prosecutors said crossing records showed that the woman also frequently went through Garcia’s lane when crossing into the U.S.,” the outlet reported.

The two Border Protection officers were arrested in May 2024 following an investigation led by the FBI San Diego field office’s Border Corruption Task Force.

According to court records, Garcia was arrested in Mexico and turned over to the U.S. authorities on May 2. Bonillo was arrested two days later by FBI agents in Las Vegas .

“Prosecutors allege [Bonillo] was staying at the ARIA Resort and Casino and had $2,000 tickets to the May 4 fight between legendary Mexican boxer Canelo Alvarez and Tijuana’s Jaime Munguia,” it has been reported .

Both Border Protection officers are currently in custody and have pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against them.

It is worth noting that the arrests of Bonillo and Garcia came a month before another U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer Leonard Darnell George was brought to trial for a similar case.

A federal jury had convicted George of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes , in return for which he allowed smugglers to bring in drugs and undocumented migrants through his inspection lane at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.