Mexico officer arrested in U.S. in smuggling bust
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Mexico officer arrested in U.S. in smuggling bust
Jun 22, 2005
Federal authorities Monday charged a police officer from San Luis Rio Colorado, Son., with attempting to smuggle an illegal alien into the United States, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona.
The Mexican transit police officer, Ramon Chavez-Rodrigues, 31, was charged with encouraging an illegal alien to come to the United States. If convicted, the officer faces a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine or both.
When questioned by Customs and Border Protection authorities, Chavez-Rodriguez admitted that he was going to be paid $300 for assisting Maria Valladolid-Chavez to enter the United States illegally by using his unmarked police vehicle last week to drive her across the border.
According to the complaint filed with the U.S. District Court of Arizona, Maria Valladolid-Chavez presented a border-crossing card that belonged to someone else to officials at the U.S. Port of Entry at San Luis, Ariz. Valladolid-Chavez admitted to Customs and Border Protection authorities that she purchased the document from an unknown man in San Luis Rio Colorado for $2,500. She said that Chavez-Rodriguez knew that the document she presented did not belong to her.
U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton said in a news release that corruption of public officials on both sides of the border is a "very serious problem."
"There can be no meaningful movement forward in the effort to curb the flow of illegal drugs and illegal immigrants into the United States as long as law enforcement officials charged with enforcing the laws of our countries are willing to trade their honor for money,� he said.
