INS OFFICER SAYS HE DIDN'T SMUGGLE

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- An immigration inspector has pleaded innocent to accepting
$350,000 to allow thousands of pounds of marijuana and 20 illegal immigrants
to enter the United States over the course of a year.

Richard Pineda, 41, was arraigned Monday in federal court on charges of
racketeering, drug and immigrant smuggling. He faces life in prison if
convicted.

Authorities have also charged two Mexican nationals, one of whom is a
Tijuana police officer, with participating in the smuggling ring, but
neither man is in custody.

Pineda was arrested Friday as he left his job at San Ysidro, where he has
worked as an inspector for the Immigration and Naturalization Service since
1987.

``Everybody is very upset because one of our officers has violated the
public trust,'' said INS spokesman Bill Strassberger.

This is the third arrest in less than two months for corruption at San
Ysidro, 15 miles south of San Diego just over the border from Tijuana, Mexico.

Last week, authorities accused Keith Johnson, a former INS inspector, with
smuggling three illegal immigrants through a pedestrian checkpoint at the
port, the world's busiest border crossing.

In early June, another former immigration inspector, Daniel Goodrum, was
charged with stealing and selling green cards -- two of which were later
used by drug smugglers to enter the United States, authorities said.