On March 2, 2026, Manuel Perez Jr. — a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer stationed at the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry in downtown El Paso, Texas — was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison after pleading guilty on October 9, 2025, to three felony counts including conspiracy to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine, conspiracy to bring aliens into the United States for financial gain, and bribery of a public official. Perez used his authority over a primary inspection lane at one of the busiest ports of entry on the southern border to wave smuggling vehicles through without inspection, accepting approximately $2,500 per person and helping move more than 250 undocumented migrants across a period spanning late 2023 through 2024. On the narcotics side, he admitted involvement in a cocaine distribution conspiracy spanning Texas, Louisiana, and North Carolina, telling investigators a smuggler had already paid him $20,000 toward seven kilos and still owed him a drug debt. Prosecutors said total bribery payments may have reached the mid-six figures; the court ordered forfeiture of a Rolex watch, jewelry, a massage chair, and $3,880 in cash, along with a $200,000 money judgment. The case was investigated by the FBI's El Paso West Texas Border Corruption Task Force alongside CBP's Office of Professional Responsibility and DHS-OIG. Among the vehicles Perez waved through was a gray Nissan Pathfinder crossing his lane repeatedly across a full calendar year — including a November 2024 trip carrying three undocumented passengers, one of them a minor he cleared without a second look.