SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 115 border-related cases this week, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).
In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here .
A sample of border-related arrests this week:
On July 24, Wilfredo Rivera-Herrera, a citizen of El Salvador, was arrested and charged with Deported Alien Found in the United States. According to a complaint, Border Patrol agents encountered Rivera entering the United States illegally about half a mile north of the border, east of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. Rivera was previously deported to Mexico in December 2025. On July 28, Mariela De Anda Madrigal, a Mexican citizen, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers discovered 40 pounds of fentanyl concealed in the passenger side undercarriage and engine filter box of the 2013 Kia Optima she was driving as she applied for entry to the U.S. at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. On July 30, Adrian Balderas-Zazueta, a Mexican national with a Border Crossing Card, was arrested and charged with Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers discovered a 15-year-old boy concealed in a non-factory compartment of the dashboard of the van Balderas was driving as he applied for admittance to the United States at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. The boy told authorities he had to ask the defendant for a rag to cover a hot metal pipe he was laying on during transport. The immigration cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners.
Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office — Southern District of California — U.S. Department of Justice press release.