Ex-border agent, wife held in smuggling case
Web Posted: 01/11/2008 10:09 PM CST
Lynn Brezosky
Express-News Valley Bureau

LAREDO — A former Border Patrol agent and his wife were ordered held without bond along with a third defendant Friday, accused of transporting and harboring 25 undocumented immigrants, federal prosecutors said.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested David Cruz, 32, and his wife, 35-year-old Susana Lopez-Portillo de Cruz, at their home Thursday.

The third defendant, 39-year-old Bertha Alicia Esquivel, also known as "La Güera," was arrested Wednesday.

Investigators say the three harbored and transported groups of between seven to 10 undocumented immigrants on Jan. 23, July 21 and Sept. 7 of 2007.

All three are charged with three counts of conspiring with one another to transport and harbor groups of illegal immigrants for the purpose of financial gain.

Each charge carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The three will return to federal court for a hearing Jan. 17.

Cruz resigned in September. He was the second current or former Customs and Border Protection employee in Laredo arrested for immigration crimes this month.

Sergio Garza, a 32-year-old Customs officer, was arrested Jan. 4 on suspicion of aiding and abetting an undocumented immigrant.

The immigrant was caught by other inspectors, who saw that he did not have documentation to enter the United States. He said he said he had paid a smuggler $600 and been told to go through Garza's inspection lane.
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