Migrants, 2 Sailors Arrested

Two Navy petty officers, one of them a military policeman, were charged Thursday with smuggling illegal migrants through an immigration processing center at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

Antonio Pina, the policeman, and storekeeper Jose Hernandez-Valdez were arrested Wednesday after federal agents saw seven illegal immigrants walk into the processing center and out the back door to a waiting car, according to the criminal complaint.

Pina, 25, worked at the building and allegedly opened the door for Hernandez-Valdez, 34, and the migrants, who paid $3,000 each to be taken to Los Angeles, according to the complaint.

Their attorneys could not be reached for comment.

Undercover agents for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Border Patrol witnessed the incident just inside the U.S. border at a facility where migrants obtain visas and other immigration paperwork.

The center, which was once the original port of entry, also houses a Navy shore patrol station.

Arriving during his off hours late Tuesday, Pina parked his car behind the center and left the door open for Hernandez-Valdez, who loaded the immigrants into the car, authorities said. He drove to a San Diego suburb, where he was stopped and arrested.

Pina, who was arrested later, denied involvement in smuggling the migrants, according to the complaint.

The migrants are from Guanajuato, Mexico, and several told investigators that Pina and Hernandez-Valdez had recently visited the city.

The arrests are the latest in a recent string of smuggling incidents involving U.S. military or law enforcement personnel.

Last week, former U.S. Border Patrol Agent Oscar Antonio Ortiz admitted as part of a plea agreement that he conspired to smuggle 100 illegal immigrants into the country.

Ortiz himself was an illegal immigrant, having used a false birth certificate to pass himself off as a U.S. citizen, according to authorities.

Hernandez-Valdez and Pina, if convicted, could get five to 10 years in prison. A bail hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.

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Times staff writer Tony Perry contributed to this report.