Border Crisis: Corruption and Smuggling Unearths 37 Immigrants In California Home

The United States border garners thousands of cars per day. Photo Courtesy of New Mexico State University nmsu.edu
The United States border garners thousands of cars per day. Photo Courtesy of New Mexico State University iri.nmsu.edu.

By Erica Laster                                                                                                                     Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

CALIFORNIA, United States – Immigration, drug and border corruption is virtually ignored on the U.S. side of the Mexican-U.S. border.  On Wednesday, government officials rescued some 37 immigrants locked inside one boarded up bedroom in a southern California home.  Authorities began searching for the home after receiving a phone call from a relative reporting that smugglers had threatened to kill his family without payment.

These “drop houses” are used by smugglers while waiting for payment for bringing immigrants into the country.  The immigrants had been locked inside the room for weeks and had not been fed for several days.  Most of those found were men, while three children under the age of three were also discovered in the room.  The immigrants were immediately placed in the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.  Among the group were immigrants from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic.

Their discovery should not come as a surprise as the U.S. and Mexico have been working to deal with smugglers, human trafficking and drug cases at a heightened pace.  In late August, a renowned asset named Garnica, known as “La Estrella,” (The Star), was sentenced to 20 years in prison by District Court Judge David Briones.  For years, Martha Garnica passed money through car windows, devised secret codes and provided drug and undocumented workers with maps to safely haul their cargo across the border.  A veteran law enforcement officer and former employee for U.S. Customs Service, Garnica was paid large sums of money, vacationing in Europe and reside in a spacious house with a built in swimming pool.

The $25 billion industry represents a growing problem for many Americans on the U.S. side of the border and U.S. officials attempting to root out corrupted government employees.  “It’s no different from spy agencies.  They look for weaknesses.  Sex is a biggie.  Alcohol, drug abuse, financial woes,” says James Smith, head of the inspector general’s investigative unit in El Paso.

For More Information Please Visit

Washington Post – Officials Rescue 37 Immigrants from California House – 8 September 2010

Washington Post – Woman’s Links to Mexican Drug Cartel a Saga of Corruption on U.S. Side of Border – 12 September 2010

Author: Impunity Watch Archive