FBI SWAT targets San Ysidro home of Border Patrol agent

By Debbi Baker and Pauline Repard
Originally published January 11, 2011 at 10:13 a.m., updated January 11, 2011 at 4:20 p.m.

SOUTH SAN DIEGO COUNTY — Federal agents and San Diego police swarmed a San Ysidro neighborhood early Tuesday as an FBI SWAT team served a warrant at a Border Patrol agent's home, looking for his father who is believed to be in the United States illegally, authorities said.

More than a dozen FBI agents, SWAT officers, Border Patrol officers, an evidence team and San Diego police targeted the home of agent Marcos Gerardo Manzano Jr. on Shooting Star Drive about 6 a.m.

At least one Customs and Border Protection internal affairs official also was present.

A federal complaint alleges that Manzano Jr. harbored his father illegally at his home and lied about it when questioned by other Border Patrol agents.

The complaint said the elder Manzano was seen at his son's home several times since September 2009.

It was not immediately clear if Manzano or his father, Marcos Gerardo Manzano Sr., were taken into custody.

FBI spokesman Darrell Foxworth said agents arrested Jose Garrido, 26, on immigration charges at the house on Shooting Star. According to a federal complaint, Garrido, who has a criminal history, is suspected of entering the country illegally after being removed to Mexico on Oct. 27.

Foxworth said a federal judge sealed the search warrant affidavit that lays out the reasons investigators have for going into the home.

Besides arresting Garrido, authorities detained and questioned another man and three women who were in the house, Foxworth said. A 6-year-old boy also had been in the house.

Residents were given limited access to the neighborhood south of state Route 905 while authorities barred Shooting Star Drive at Del Sur Boulevard and Antares Drive, and at a number of small streets for several hours.

FBI agents in bullet-proof vests combed the house, garage and grounds into the afternoon. The front yard appeared littered with debris, the garage was full of objects and several vehicles were parked in front of the house.

One Shooting Star Court resident said it was “scaryâ€