Top Border Patrol officials, already under investigation by Custom and Border Protection for reportedly partying with a tequila mogul, are said to have also attended parties by a wealthy businessman who is involved in cross-border trade.
NBC News reported that the Mexican American businessman Eduardo Garza, who owns Uni-Trade, which advises companies on “global transportation, foreign trade and customs,” hosted the Border Patrol officials at three events at his ranch in Texas. The network news further noted that he hosted a smaller group of officials in Mexico twice.
NBC News attributed its information to two unnamed sources.
The Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Professional Responsibility is now investigating whether the top officials, including Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens and Rio Grande Valley sector head Gloria Chavez, fully disclosed their contacts with Garza or everything that Garza provided to them.
The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General is also asking about the activities of Chavez and Garza at some or all of the events, according to the sources.
CBP’s ethics policies prohibit taking gifts from anyone who “conducts activities regulated by the employee’s agency” or “has interests that may be substantially affected by the performance or nonperformance of the employee’s official duties,” according to NBC News.
The network news has reported Owens and Chavez allegedly were also under investigation for reportedly attending a party hosted by distiller Francisco Javier González, who had hoped to make a Border Patrol-branded tequila.
González is the grandson of the founder of Don Julio tequila.
Garza introduced Owens and Chavez to tequila maker Francisco Javier González, the sources said. Photos posted on social media in February reportedly show Owens and Chavez in Jalisco, Mexico, with González at Tequila Casa de los González, his family’s distillery complex.
The New York Post said Owens can be seen in one photo drinking a glass of wine and smoking a cigar next to Chavez.