Tecate, Calif. - U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers Friday at the Tecate port of entry apprehended a man wanted by the New York City Police Department for a murder seven years ago.
At about 5:30 a.m. March 26, Rene Aguilar-Orzuna, a 28-year-old Mexican citizen, and resident of Puebla, Mexico, entered the Tecate port of entry on foot and presented a valid Mexican passport. However, the CBP officer suspected that the document had been altered and quickly determined that the document did not belong to Aguilar-Orzuna. In fact, the legal owner's photo on the passport had been replaced with a photo of Aguilar-Orzuna, so he could attempt to enter the U.S. undetected.
During their inspection, CBP officers determined that Aguilar-Orzuna had an active, no-bail homicide warrant for his arrest, issued in New York City in connection with a murder on June 5, 2003.
CBP officers arrested Aguilar-Orzuna. He is currently being held at the San Diego County Jail.
CBP officers constantly inspect travelers' documents to ensure that the documents are legitimate and not fake, that the person presenting the document is not an imposter, and that the document has not been altered.
From October 1, 2009 through the end of February 2010, CBP officers at the nation's ports of entry have reported encountering 9,780 persons with fraudulent documents of some kind. This represents a two percent increase from last fiscal year, when CBP officers reported 9,578 persons with fraudulent documents from October 1, 2008 through the end of February 2009.
CBP officers within the San Diego Field Office, which includes the Port of San Diego and the land border crossings at San Ysidro, Otay Mesa, Calexico, Tecate, and Andrade, accounted for 81% of the nation's fraudulent documents incidents reported so far in fiscal year 2010. CBP officers within the San Diego Field Office reported encountering 7,961 persons with fraudulent documents, an increase of six percent over the same period last year.