A Transportation Safety Administration officer is facing 10 years in prison after being accused o f helping to smuggle illegal aliens into the U.S.
TSA agent David Alexander Díaz-Torres was arrested in Orlando, Fla. Thursday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials after being indicted on 13-counts of “bringing, transporting, harboring and shielding illegal aliens within the United States,” according to a Justice Department press release.
In March 2012, Díaz-Torres and five others allegedly smuggled a group of Brazilian nationals from the international airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico into the U.S. where Díaz-Torres allowed the group to pass through security without being questioned.
The group of illegals then dispersed on fights to New York, Boston and Philadelphia, the press release stated.
“Mr. Torres was placed in a position of trust and employees of the federal government must be held to a higher standard than the general public,” the special agent in charge of Homeland Security’s San Juan-U.S. Virgin Island’s office said.
According to the DOJ statement:
“It is very troubling when law enforcement authorities have to arrest a corrupt federal employee who is alleged to have undermined our nation’s security, our overall safety, and the public trust and confidence we place in those chosen to protect and serve ,” said Rosa Emilia Rodríguez Vélez, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. “The Justice Department’s commitment to preventing human smuggling, bringing smugglers to justice and assisting victims has never been stronger.”
Read the press release here:
