Border security

FBI asks public to be on lookout for border corruption

Smugglers use whatever method they can to get drugs, weapons and people into the United States, from tunnels to unsecured border fences to secret compartments in vehicles.

But there is an even safer way, known in smuggling circles as a “guaranteed method”: bribe a border officer who will either wave the illegal load through a port of entry or perhaps even carry the goods into the U.S.

Incidents of bribe-taking border officers — including recent cases in San Diego — continue to raise alarms, prompting the FBI and Department of Homeland Security to create a campaign asking for the public’s help to catch corrupt officers.

 “If you live near, work at or cross the border, you can be our eyes and ears when you witness public corruption. Don’t turn a blind eye, report it to the FBI,” Sergio Galvan, chief of the FBI’s Public Corruption Unit at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., urges in a new public service announcement.