Customs officer, wife plead guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery, import Ecstasy

Customs officer, wife plead guilty in drug case

TUCSON, Ariz. — A federal customs officer at the San Luis Port of Entry and his wife pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and to import the drug Ecstasy.

The U.S. Attorney’s office in Phoenix said Monday that 41-year-old Customs and Border Protection officer Henry Gauani and his 46-year-old wife Flora Gauani conspired to let a vehicle loaded with the controlled substance pass through the port for $33,000 in cash.

The couple arranged with a confidential informant to have the vehicle enter the U.S. with what the defendants believed were a half-million ecstasy pills, authorities said.

They were arrested as part of a federal investigation in January and indicted a week later.

Each defendants could face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the conspiracy to commit bribery charge, and 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine for the conspiracy to import Ecstasy charge.