McALLEN, Texas ‐ A former Border Patrol (BP) agent has been ordered to prison for making a false statement regarding a narcotics seizure, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez. Eduardo Bazan, 49, of Edinburg, pleaded guilty June 30, 2017.
Today, U.S. District Judge Randy Crane ordered Bazan to serve a 24-month sentence to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release.
As part of an ongoing investigation, law enforcement learned that a 66-kilogram load of cocaine that BP seized in 2007 may have been staged with sham, or diluted, narcotics to allow drug traffickers to steal the original narcotics from unwitting sources of supply.
On Oct. 31, 2016, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) interviewed Bazan who had been a BP agent assigned to the McAllen Border Station. He falsely stated that in February 2007 he had unsuccessfully attempted to apprehend individuals running from a vehicle. Upon returning to that vehicle, he saw other agents recovering the bundles of cocaine.
On Nov. 1, 2016, Bazan admitted he had lied to agents and that the load vehicle had been abandoned. Bazan ran from the scene to make other agents believe the vehicle had been occupied. Bazan further admitted to receiving $8,000 for assisting the drug traffickers with the staged seizure.
Bazan was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
This case was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Investigation dubbed Operation Blue Shame. ICE-HSI, Drug Enforcement Administration and IRS - Criminal Investigations conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anibal J. Alaniz and Kristen Rees prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
