Former CBP officer to appear in court Friday

A former Customs and Border Protection officer is scheduled to appear in federal court on Friday for a preliminary hearing that will address bribery allegations against him.

Javier Cavazos, 50, of Los Fresnos, is accused of accepting $4,800 in cash in exchange for letting French national Brian Altan enter the United States illegally.

According to court documents, part of the violation occurred at Cavazos’ home, where he stamped Altan’s passport and a blank I-94 form that could be used to enter the United States.

Court records also show an exchange of telephone calls between Cavazos and his alleged accomplice, David de la Fuente, 22, of San Benito.

Cavazos was arrested Sept. 29 in Reno, Nevada. At the time of the allegations, Cavazos was employed with CBP and had been with the federal agency for 16 years.

De la Fuente was also arrested on Sept. 29 at his San Benito residence. He is charged with alien smuggling and bribery of a public official.

Cavazos on Wednesday was out of jail on $50,000 bail. De la Fuente was released on a $25,000 bond.

Agents with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Professional Responsibility began investigating Cavazos on Dec. 18 after U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested Atlan at the Harlingen airport, on the charge of being an undocumented alien illegally present in the country, court documents reflect.

In a March statement to federal authorities, Altan admitted that he hired de la Fuente to help smuggle him into the United States. Altan paid de la Fuente $5,000 to be smuggled into the country. Of that money, $200 went to de la Fuente and the remaining $4,800 went to Cavazos, he claims.

Although court documents don’t state how Altan and de la Fuente became acquainted, they do state that Altan had a cell phone number belonging to de la Fuente. The documents further reflect that there were at least three telephone calls between de la Fuente and Cavazos.

Federal authorities obtained video surveillance tape at the Gateway International Bridge that shows Cavazos failed to check Altan’s passport or perform the required database search, officials said.