Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers Jesse Clark Garcia and Diego Bonillo pleaded guilty to conspiring with members of a Mexico-based drug trafficking organization, federal prosecutors said on July 28.
Garcia and Bonillo admitted to deliberately allowing vehicles carrying drugs to enter the United States without undergoing an inspection.
Bonillo, 30, worked at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry in San Diego, one of the busiest border crossings in the country. Garcia, 37, worked at the port of entry located in Tecate, California; a smaller border crossing southeast of San Diego.
Court documents said the officers told members of the drug trafficking organization which lane they were assigned and what time they would be there, ensuring the cartel members could enter the United States without problems. Prosecutors said the officers used a clandestine emoji-based code to communicate with the cartel. Garcia and Bonillo would then fail to inspect the vehicles. They allowed a significant amount of drugs to enter the country through this system….