Accused Drug Smugglers Walk Free After ICE Deports Key Witness

Two alleged drug smugglers were acquitted after Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported a key witness in the case to Tijuana, Mexico. Javier Hernandez, a recovering drug addict who was arrested in 2015 during a federal raid that recovered 22 pounds of meth, pled guilty to conspiracy to possess meth with intent to distribute and agreed to testify against his co-defendants, one of whom was accused of regularly receiving shipments of drugs smuggled from Mexico. But during a routine immigration check-in last year, Hernandez was arrested and later deported as part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda. ICE did not consult federal prosecutors in Los Angeles before deporting Hernandez, and months later, his co-defendants were found not guilty. Critics told The Los Angeles Times the case was an example of the Trump administration prioritizing deportations over other law enforcement activities, including serious drug cases. Under the terms of his witness agreement, Hernandez was warned he could still be deported, but past administrations coordinated to keep federal informants in the country so they could testify. In a statement to the Times, a DHS spokesperson called Hernandez a “clear and present threat to public safety,” and said DHS was “not going to release criminal illegal aliens, including drug traffickers, from our custody onto our streets.”
















