U.S. Border Patrol Agent Hector Hernandez made his initial appearance in federal court on May 11 on charges that he agreed to accept $25,000 in bribes to distribute methamphetamine and to open a restricted border gate to allow unauthorized migrants to illegally enter the United States.
The complaint alleges that on May 8, 2023, Hernandez opened a restricted border gate while on duty as part of an agreement to allow an unauthorized migrant to enter the United States from Mexico in exchange for a $5,000 cash payment to Hernandez. Hernandez was unaware that he’d made that agreement with an undercover federal agent.
Then, on May 9, 2023, in exchange for another cash payment, Hernandez arranged to pick up a duffle bag loaded with methamphetamine from a storm drain near the border fence while on duty. According to the complaint, Hernandez put the bag into his Border Patrol vehicle and drove it to his house in Chula Vista, where he stored it for the remainder of his shift. In the morning on May 10, 2023, Hernandez retrieved the bag and met with the undercover agent intending to deliver the drugs in return for an expected $20,000 cash payment, the complaint said. At that meeting, after delivering the drugs, Hernandez was arrested.
A detention hearing is scheduled for May 16 at 1:30 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Bernard G. Skomal.
Read more at the Office of Inspector General
