United States of America v. Yasmin Cruz, Christin Arnulfo Cruz Yepez, Arturo Gonzalez Aguila, Jesus Horacio Soto-Leyva, Efren Espinoza-Garcia

Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 103 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 August 16, Yasmin Cruz, a U.S. citizen, was arrested and charged with Attempted Transportation of Illegal Aliens. According to a complaint, Cruz posed as the mother of two children, ages 12 and 10, while attempting to enter the United States at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. Customs and Border Protection officers determined that the woman was not the mother of the children, and that she used birth certificates that did not belong to the children.

On August 19, Christin Arnulfo Cruz Yepez, a Mexican citizen, was arrested and charged with Deported Alien Found in the United States. According to a complaint, the defendant was intercepted by Border Patrol agents walking two miles west of the Tecate, California, Port of Entry and approximately one mile north of the United States/Mexico International Border. The defendant was previously deported to Mexico on July 24, 2025, through San Diego.

On August 20, Arturo Gonzalez Aguilar, a Mexican citizen who told Customs and Border Protection officers he is a Tijuana police officer, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, the officer found 87 pounds of cocaine concealed in his vehicle when he attempted to cross the border at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

Also recently, a number of defendants with criminal records were convicted by a jury or sentenced for border-related crimes such as illegally re-entering the U.S. after previous deportation. Here are a few of those cases:



On August 20, Jesus Horacio Soto-Leyva, a Mexican national who was previously convicted of felony Possession of a Dangerous Weapon by a Restricted Person in February 2016 and Illegal Reentry in January 2018, was sentenced in federal court to 12 months and 1 day in custody for again entering the U.S illegally.

On August 22, Efren Espinoza-Garcia, a Mexican national who was previously convicted of Distribution of Methamphetamine in 2019, was sentenced in federal court to 12 months and one day in custody for again entering the U.S illegally

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.