Two CBP Agents in San Diego Arrested for Working with Mexican Cartel

According to the indictment and other court records, the first documented drug crossing involving Garcia occurred in April 2021. Prosecutors allege that late one morning, a woman driving a KIA Soul was trying to enter the U.S. through Garcia’s inspection lane at the Tecate Port of Entry even though his lane had traffic and a second lane was open.

Other CBP officers directed that driver to the second lane, where an alert on her vehicle prompted a search. Officers found hidden in the vehicle about 140 pounds of what turned out to be a mix of cocaine and fentanyl, and more than 25 pounds of methamphetamine. The driver was arrested and charged in federal court in San Diego with several drug importation charges.

She later absconded after being released on bond and remains a fugitive, according to court records. Later, investigators would learn she often crossed the Tecate border in Garcia’s lane, and that when he took a two-week leave, she crossed through his lane immediately before his leave and immediately when he returned, but not once during his absence.

Prosecutors allege that one afternoon in August 2023, Garcia was assigned to a pedestrian lane in Tecate when he suddenly asked another officer working in a vehicle inspection lane to switch with him. Moments after the switch, Garcia waved through the border a woman driving a Toyota Camry. Not long after that, Garcia’s shift ended and he headed back toward San Diego on state Route 94, followed closely by the driver of the Camry.

Agents at a Border Patrol checkpoint along the highway allowed Garcia in his own vehicle to pass but stopped the Camry. Inside the car, the agents found more than 475 pounds of cocaine and nearly 9 pounds of fentanyl, according to prosecutors. The Camry’s driver later pleaded guilty to two federal charges and admitted her car was loaded with drugs when it passed through Garcia’s border inspection lane. Prosecutors said crossing records showed that the woman also frequently went through Garcia’s lane when crossing into the U.S.

By February, FBI and DEA agents appeared to be monitoring Garcia’s actions. One day early in the month, undercover agents secretly followed two different vehicles that passed through his lane within about two hours of each other. When they eventually stopped those vehicles, they found about 130 pounds of methamphetamine in one; the other was loaded with 120 pounds of cocaine, 82 pounds of methamphetamine and 71 pounds of fentanyl.

It appears a records check on the driver of one of those vehicles is what led the FBI and DEA agents to Bonillo, a 30-year-old Army veteran who joined CBP in April 2023. When crossing the border in Otay Mesa, a much larger crossing than Tecate, that driver had often crossed through Bonillo’s lane.

On Feb. 15, the driver of a Buick LaCrosse that investigators later learned was loaded with drugs attempted to cross through Bonillo’s lane in Otay Mesa. Investigators believe Bonillo tipped off the driver that he might be followed. After crossing the border, the driver allegedly “engaged in highly surveillance-cautious maneuvers,” an FBI agent wrote in a search warrant. The driver then abandoned the car in a public parking lot and fled through the back of a store.

Prosecutors allege another person later came to retrieve the Buick and eventually took it to a San Diego home. Agents later raided the home and discovered 95 pounds of fentanyl powder and smaller amounts of fentanyl pills and heroin hidden inside the car, according to court records. Agents also arrested several people inside the home, where they found more drugs, and later learned that at least two of those people had previously crossed the border through Bonillo’s lanes.

Garcia and Bonillo have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them and remain in custody after judges ruled both were flight risks. Garcia’s attorney declined to comment Wednesday. Bonillo’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment. Garcia and Bonillo both face a minimum of 10 years in prison if convicted. They’re next due in court for a hearing late next month.

Sources San Diego Tribune