BORDER PATROL ARRESTS SEX OFFENDER, A FORMER POLICE OFFICER, FOR SMUGGLING PEOPLE IN CAMPO

By Miriam Raftery

November 12, 2023 (Campo, CA) – A former Los Angeles Police Department officer convicted of rape was arrested by Border Patrol agents on November 6 in Campo for human smuggling. The convicted felon was also in possession of a ghost gun.

A local resident reported seeing human smuggling near the border involving an older model SUV. A agent responded and found a vehicle matching the description. The driver told the agent that he was an LAPD lieutenant and presented what appeared to be an LAPD badge, according to a press release from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Department’s San Diego sector.

The agent saw four people in the back seat of the SUV and conducted an immigration inspection. The individuals, three women and a man, told the agent that they had recently crossed the U.S./ Mexico border illegally. The agent placed the driver and passengers under arrest and transported them to a nearby Border Patrol station.

During a search of the suspected smuggling vehicle, agents discovered an un-serialized 9mm handgun, commonly referred to as a “ghost gun”. Agents also located two fully loaded 9mm magazines and a shoulder holster.

 Record checks revealed that the driver is a former Los Angeles Police Department officer who separated from service in 1993, the same year he was convicted for forceful rape and sentenced to three years in prison.  

The driver, firearm, and vehicle were turned over to San Diego Sheriff’s Office for further processing. The smuggled migrants were processed for deportation.

The names of the arrested former officer was not released.

“Our agents never know what they are going to encounter on any given day. In this instance, our agents were able to take a dangerous criminal out of the community,” said Chief Patrol Agent Patricia McGurk-Daniel.