San Diego Border Patrol agent arrested in undercover drug and human smuggling sting

A San Diego-area Border Patrol agent was charged Thursday with federal crimes related to on-duty corruption, including moving what he believed was 23 pounds of methamphetamine and opening a border gate to allow the passage of an undocumented immigrant.

Federal authorities arrested Agent Hector Hernandez, 55, on Wednesday morning in Chula Vista, where he believed he would be handing over the drugs in return for a $20,000 payment, according to court documents. Instead, his contact turned out to be an undercover agent from the Border Patrol’s parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security.

Hernandez was arraigned Thursday on one count of attempted distribution of controlled substances and two counts receiving a bribe as a public official. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney who could comment on his behalf.

The investigation into Hernandez began last month when agents from department’s Office of the Inspector General learned he “was engaged in border corruption activities,” according to a criminal complaint and a search warrant. Those alleged activities are not detailed in the court documents, and as of Thursday he did not face charges related to those accusations.

The undercover agent spoke with Hernandez on Monday and set up a plan to pay the Border Patrol agent $5,000 if, during his shift that night, he opened a gate along the U.S.-Mexico border fence to allow an immigrant to pass through, according to the complaint and search warrant.

During one phone call that day, Hernandez allegedly asked the undercover investigator to send three undocumented people instead of just one so he could receive a higher payment, according to the court documents. Later that night, he allegedly drove his Border Patrol vehicle to the agreed-upon location and opened the fence.

Nobody crossed through the gate, but Hernandez was told that one person did, according to the court documents.

The undercover investigator met with Hernandez the next day and paid him $5,000 for opening the fence, according to the court documents. The undercover agent then pitched Hernandez on a new scheme: helping move drugs across the border.

At first Hernandez was hesitant, citing the example of another Border Patrol agent, Noe Lopez, who’d been caught smuggling drugs, according to the complaint and search warrant. Hernandez said he didn’t want to pick up the drugs between the primary and secondary border fences, the documents allege.

The undercover agent assured Hernandez he wouldn’t have to, telling him instead that the drugs would be hidden somewhere just along the fence on the U.S. side of the border, according to the court documents. From there, he would need to pick them up and transport them to Chula Vista.

Hernandez agreed to that plan, and during his shift on Tuesday night he drove his Border Patrol vehicle to the spot where he was told the drugs would be stashed, according to the court documents. Once there, he retrieved a duffel bag — investigators had filled it with 1 pound of real methamphetamine, 22 pounds of sham drugs and a tracking device — and then drove to his Chula Vista home, authorities allege.

After dropping the bag in his home, Hernandez went back to work, according to the court documents. When he was off work in the morning, he retrieved the bag and drove to the meeting place in Chula Vista, where he handed over the bag, the documents say.

That’s when agents arrested him.

Border Patrol officials in San Diego did not immediately respond to a request for comment.