Border Patrol agent accused of drug smuggling
McALLEN – A U.S. Border Patrol agent accused of smuggling cocaine through airport security checkpoints made his first appearance in U.S. District Court on Friday.
Prosecutors allege Agent Ramiro Flores Jr., 36, of McAllen, used his federal credentials and badge to bypass U.S. Transportation Security Administration screeners at McAllen-Miller International Airport with about 13.2 pounds of the drug hidden in a piece of luggage.
Once inside the secure area of the airport, he is accused of swapping the bag with an awaiting accomplice, before both men boarded a flight to Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport.
Houston police arrested both men Thursday as they exited the plane.
According to a criminal complaint filed in the case, Flores unknowingly met with a federal informant earlier in the week to plan the drug smuggling trip. The man offered him $400 up front and an additional $6,000 once the trip was completed.
A search of the Flores’ McAllen home after his arrest uncovered $340 of the initial payment, U.S. attorneys said.
Federal authorities said it remains unclear whether Flores had made previous smuggling trips.
TSA policy allows armed, on-duty local and federal law enforcement officers to bypass airport checkpoints with the proper identification, according to the agency’s Web site. Flores, however, was not supposed to be on duty at the time of his trip, prosecutors said.
It was unclear Friday whether he had retained an attorney. Several phone calls to his home Friday were not returned.
Fellow agents described Flores as a longtime member of the Border Patrol’s ranks in McAllen.
Although local Border Patrol spokesman Dan Doty said he could not comment specifically on Flores’ case, he said it was standard procedure for any agent who becomes the target of a criminal investigation to be put on administrative leave pending the outcome of the case.
FOR YOUR INFORMATION
Ramiro Flores Jr. is the second U.S. Border Patrol agent accused of smuggling activity in Texas this week. On Tuesday, Agent Jesus Miguel Huizar, 26, of El Paso, was arrested on conspiracy and money laundering charges.
Court documents allege Huizar and two Mexican nationals smuggled more than 100 illegal immigrants into the United States since 2005. Huizar is accused of taking $500 per person to go through the checkpoint to a house he owned.
If convicted, he could face up to 30 years in prison.
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