By Phil Helsel -
NBC News
A former Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official who worked at a Texas port of entry pleaded guilty this week to allowing undocumented people to enter the United States and accepting bribes from alleged cocaine traffickers who They were actually undercover agents, authorities reported.
Emanuel Isac Celedon pleaded guilty in two federal cases on Monday: one related to smuggling people into the United States, and another related to accepting a bribe for what he
believed was a shipment of cocaine
, according to prosecutors.
A US Customs and Border Patrol agent in Calexico, California, in 2019.Saul Loeb / AFP - Getty Images file
Celedon, 36, worked at the Juárez-Lincoln port of entry in Laredo, on the border between Mexico and the United States.
He let people through the lane he controlled without inspection at least nine times between September and November, and informed smugglers in advance which lane he was assigned, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas said in a statement. .
Celedon also
accepted a bribe of $6,000
to allow the entry into the United States of vehicles with what he believed were kilograms of cocaine – in reality it was “fake cocaine” and was part of a secret investigation – according to the Prosecutor's Office.
[The Supreme Court extends the brake on the entry into force of the controversial SB4 immigration law in Texas]
Celedon's attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.
He pleaded guilty Monday to four counts in a court case of bringing an undocumented alien into the United States, and to charges of bribery and attempted importation of a controlled substance in a second, the prosecutor's office said.
[The Supreme Court extends the brake on the entry into force of the controversial SB4 immigration law in Texas]
The Juárez-Lincoln port of entry is one of
five land border crossings
in Laredo.