2 CBP Officers Plead Guilty to Allowing Illegal Drugs to Pass Through Border Inspection

Prosecutors alleged that the defendants used ‘a secret emoji-based code’ to inform drug traffickers of their assigned lanes.

Customs and Border Protection agents check pedestrians as they exit Mexico into the customs area of the United States on the east side of the San Ysidro port of entry in Tijuana, Mexico, on Nov. 19, 2018. Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times

Two Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers have pleaded guilty to allowing drug-laden vehicles to enter the United States without being inspected at the U.S.–Mexico border, federal prosecutors said on July 28.

Jesse Clark Garcia, 37, and Diego Bonillo, 30, admitted to conspiring with members of a Mexican drug trafficking organization to allow vehicles carrying fentanyl, methamphetamine, and other controlled substances to enter through inspection lanes they were assigned to, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.

Garcia and Bonillo were stationed at the Tecate Port of Entry and the Otay Mesa Port of Entry, respectively. Prosecutors alleged that Garcia and Bonillo used “a secret emoji-based code” to inform drug traffickers of their assigned lanes and work schedules, according to the indictment.

Garcia pleaded guilty to nine charges on July 8, including conspiracy to import controlled substances such as cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl into the United States.

Bonillo admitted to allowing 75 kilograms of fentanyl, 4.5 kilograms of methamphetamine, and more than 1 kilogram of heroin into the United States. He pleaded guilty to three counts on July 28.

Prosecutors alleged that the defendants “profited handsomely” from the illicit scheme, using the earnings to fund “domestic and international trips as well as purchases of luxury items and attempts to purchase real estate in Mexico.”

Garcia and Bonillo were scheduled to face sentencing on Sept. 26 and Nov. 7, respectively, and each could face up to life in prison with a 10-year mandatory minimum, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The Epoch Times reached out to the defendants’ lawyers for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

Their case bears similarities to that of former CBP officer Leonard Darnell George, who was found guilty of allowing illegal immigrants and vehicles containing methamphetamine and other illicit drugs to pass through inspection lanes in exchange for payments, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Prosecutors said George notified members of a drug trafficking organization of which lane he was assigned to and when he would be on duty, giving them a one-hour window to reach his lane. Text messages recovered from his phone revealed that he charged $17,000 per vehicle and $65,000 for four vehicles, according to prosecutors. George was sentenced to 23 years in prison for the offenses in 2024.

On July 9, CBP said its Field Operations officers had seized alleged methamphetamine worth more than $23 million at the Pharr International Bridge in Texas. It was hidden inside a tractor-trailer carrying papayas.

The agency stated that 384 packages of alleged methamphetamine, weighing more than 2,500 pounds, were found inside the vehicle during a physical inspection.