A federal jury convicted former U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent Leonard Darnell George of accepting bribes and allowing vehicles of unauthorized individuals to pass into the United States in June, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
George was convicted of accepting bribes to allow vehicles with methamphetamine and other illicit drugs to come into the US and allowing vehicles of unauthorized individuals to pass through his lane while working for two separate criminal organizations, according to the DOJ’s June 12 news release.
In 2021, George would notify the drug trafficking organization that he was working, what lane he was on, and gave them an hour to reach his lane. In 2022 after a suspected drug smuggling vehicle entered his lane and was flagged. When the flagged vehicle went through a secondary inspection, approximately 222 pounds of methamphetamine was discovered in the vehicle. He allowed the next vehicle in line, also transporting drugs, to enter the U.S.
Text messages the next day showed that George collected $13,000 for allowing the second vehicle in. That day he bought a 2020 Cadillac CT5 for an associate of the drug trafficking organization and delivered his gift to Ensenada on Valentine’s Day 2022. While investigating, law enforcement and prosecutors pointed to 19 crossings associated with criminal organizations moving through George’s lane in a six month period. He sent text messages confirming receipt of $17,000 per vehicle, up to $65,000 for five vehicles. He allowed four vehicles from one organization to enter his lane in 2022 and received $68,000 for that, according to text messages.
Two U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents from the San Diego Sector, Jesse Clark Garcia and Diego Bonillo, were arrested in May on drug conspiracy and trafficking charges, according to News Nation. Prosecutors allege that the agents worked with a Mexican drug trafficking organization, allowing vehicles loaded with fentanyl and methamphetamine to pass unchecked through their inspection lanes at the Otay Mesa and Tecate Ports of Entry. Court documents reveal that Garcia and Bonillo received tens of thousands of dollars, which they used to fund a “lavish” lifestyle, including luxury purchases, building a home on a Mexican ranch, and taking vacations to Europe.
The U.S. Department of Justice dates back to the Judiciary Act of 1789, with the establishment of the Office of the Attorney General. In 1855, Edmund Randolph, the first Attorney General, advocated for consolidation of government litigation under the Attorney General’s office. In 1868, Congress passed a law allowing just that, according to the DOJ’s webpage focusing on the organization’s history.
