Thread: Deportation officer accused of concealing $2.4 million in luggage

AUGUST 28, 2016 1:28 PM

Deportation officer accused of concealing $2.4 million in luggage
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TSA personnel work security equipment at Miami International Airport. PEDRO PORTAL
el Nuevo Herald File/2013

ALFONSO CHARDY
achardy@elnuevoherald.com

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation officer has appeared before a federal judge in Miami to plead not guilty for the second time after a grand jury handed down a superseding indictment in a case linking him and two women to concealing $2.4 million in luggage.

Luis de Jesús Alonzo, 44, was in court for a second time Aug. 18 after the grand jury filed the indictment seven days earlier against him and the two women, Mildrey González and Milka Alfaro. The superseding indictment charges them with conspiracy to allegedly hide the $2.4 million in seven suitcases and bags the group carried after arriving from Puerto Plata, in the Dominican Republic, on June 4.

In the original criminal complaint, Alonzo was not identified by name — only as Person A. The complaint also said that he was not carrying money in his luggage.

The money was found in the women's luggage.

However, Alonzo filled out and signed the customs declaration for the group as "responsible family member," saying the group was not carrying "over ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00) in United States currency," according to the superseding indictment.

It was not until a grand jury handed down the original indictment June 24 that Alonzo's name came to light. It wasn't until July 20 when prosecutors gave the court a memo on the case that Alonzo was identified as an ICE deportation officer.

González is Alfaro's mother, according to court records.

Alonzo and Alfaro have a minor daughter, according to the same records.

ICE has declined to comment because the case is still active in court. The attorneys for all three defendants have also declined comment.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/loca...e98454562.html

Well, isn't that interesting. ICE Agents on the take.

Ex-US immigration agent guilty in $2.4M cash smuggling

By - Associated Press - Tuesday, September 20, 2016

MIAMI (AP) - A former federal immigration agent has pleaded guilty to helping smuggle more than $2.4 million in cash into the U.S. from the Dominican Republic.

Court records show 44-year-old Luis De Jesus Alonzo Jr. faces up to five years in prison after pleading guilty late last week to a bulk smuggling charge.

Alonzo resigned Sept. 6 as a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation officer.

Prosecutors said in a news release Monday that Alonzo and two others arrived in June at Miami International Airport from the Dominican Republic with seven pieces of luggage. Investigators found cash hidden in diapers, baby wipes and other items.

Alonzo had filled out a form declaring the luggage did not contain more than $10,000, the threshold for travelers entering the U.S. to report money to authorities.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...-cash-smuggli/

Ex-US immigration agent Luis De Jesus Alonzo Jr guilty in $2.4M cash smuggling