Border Patrol agent arrested in smuggling case

By: JO MORELAND - Staff Writer | Thursday, August 4, 2005 10:51 PM PDT ∞

ESCONDIDO ---- Federal agents arrested a Border Patrol agent Thursday in Escondido who is suspected of being an illegal immigrant who was smuggling other illegal immigrants into the United States.

Department of Homeland Security agents, assisted by Escondido police, pulled over 28-year-old Oscar Antonio Ortiz of San Diego at about 2:30 p.m. while he was driving on Valley Parkway near Interstate 15 and took him into custody, authorities said.

They said a second Border Patrol agent who lives in Encinitas has also been under investigation.

Ortiz's application to work for the Border Patrol, filed in Oct. 30, 2001, claimed he was born in Chicago, Ill., and he submitted a birth certificate, according to U.S. District Court documents in San Diego.

"However, a records check revealed it was a doctored birth certificate," Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Jennings said. "The records check revealed that he was born in Tijuana."

Ortiz was to appear in federal court today on one charge each of conspiracy to smuggle illegal immigrants into this country and falsely claiming U.S. citizenship, Jennings said.

The maximum penalty for conviction could be 10 years for conspiracy and three for falsely claiming citizenship.

A Border Patrol spokesman in San Diego declined to comment, citing further investigation.

The case developed out of a U.S.-Mexico drug smuggling investigation tied to an Encinitas street gang.

At least 33 people, 10 of them believed to be members of the gang, were charged during the multi-agency Operation Straight Flush. North County Regional Gang Task Force detectives worked with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, as well as other agents.

Officials said Ortiz's home was among those searched in early June when the first arrests in the case were made.

The Border Patrol agent who lives in Encinitas has three cousins in the street gang and he was also under investigation, authorities said.

Cell phone conversations between Ortiz and the other agent as they discussed smuggling illegal immigrants into the United States east of Tecate are noted in the court documents.

During one call, a statement says, the other agent was intercepted telling a family member that he and Ortiz were smuggling 30 to 50 illegal immigrants at a time.

"We don't do anything, just clear the way, and we get 300 (dollars) per head," the agent allegedly said. "But if we put in, then it's 2,000 or 1,800."

Contact staff writer Jo Moreland at (760) 740-3524 or jmoreland@nctimes.com.