(CBSLA) A Los Angeles police officer has been arrested on federal charges alleging he tried to smuggle two illegal immigrants into the United States this week in southeastern San Diego County.
FILE LAPD officer Mambasse Koulabalo Patara. August 2017. (Credit: Facebook) Mambasse Koulabalo Patara has been charged with violating immigration laws, according to a federal complaint filed Wednesday.
He was arrested early Tuesday morning at a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint in Pine Valley, located about 12 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border.
According to the complaint, at 12:15 a.m. Tuesday, Patara drove up to the checkpoint with two male passengers in a 2006 Toyota Corolla.