People smuggling

Ex-LAPD Officer Caught Smuggling Man in Trunk at Border Sentenced

A former Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer who was caught trying to smuggle a Mexican citizen into the United States has been sentenced to 18 months of home detention.

Carlos Curiel Quezada, a 10-year veteran of LAPD, and his girlfriend, 31-year-old Angelica Godinez, were arrested at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry in south San Diego County on March 14, 2015.

That day, according to court documents, as the couple tried to cross the border, the couple presented their U.S. passports and told a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent they had nothing to declare.

The agent then referred Quezeda and Godina to a secondary inspection point. The vehicle passed through an X-ray machine, which detected something unusual in the rear cargo area.