A federal officer is facing bribery charges following an undercover drug smuggling operation where investigators paid him $15,000 to help smuggle 40 kilograms of cocaine through an international port of entry.
On Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced the arrest of 46-year-old Oziel Cantu, an officer with U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge.
The case began on June 9, after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General began looking into a CBP officer allegedly helping cartel operators move drugs from Mexico into Texas, the criminal complaint filed against Cantu stated.
Earlier this month, an undercover agent posing as a cartel member contacted Cantu through a messaging app and set two meetings where they planned the smuggling of 40 kilograms of cocaine in exchange for $15,000. The plan called for the person smuggling the drugs to place a red hardhat on the dashboard of his vehicle and Cantu would signal which vehicle lane to drive so the officer could let him pass.
On Wednesday early morning, a second undercover agent drove a vehicle with fake cocaine bricks to the port of entry and followed Cantu’s directions. Hours later, the first undercover agent met with Cantu to pay him. After the money was paid, federal agents arrested Cantu.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Cantu is expected to go before a federal judge on Friday morning for his initial hearing where he will be formally notified of the charges and his bond could be set.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.