A meth case that once hinged on a scared but willing witness instead ended with two alleged traffickers walking free after ICE got involved. "Javier Hernandez" (a pseudonym) agreed to testify for federal prosecutors after a 2015 Drug Enforcement Administration bust in Fontana that turned up nearly 22 pounds of meth, hoping to avoid a potential life sentence and protect his family, the Los Angeles Times reports. Even after receiving an email listing his loved ones alongside a photo of a dead, bloodied man, he stayed on board as a cooperating witness against people he believes had cartel connections.
Then Immigration and Customs Enforcement stepped in. Six months before trial, ICE detained Hernandez at a routine check-in and deported him to Tijuana in March 2025—without consulting the Los Angeles prosecutors who needed his testimony, a federal judge said. The case against his co-defendants collapsed, and they were acquitted. John Sandweg, acting director of ICE during the Obama administration, says administrations normally coordinate to keep informants in the country. "Anytime someone was a federal defendant or critical witness in a federal case, it would be shocking if we executed a removal of that individual," he tells the Times.
A federal law enforcement official tells the Times that "informants are the lifeblood of the DEA" and the way Hernandez was treated could discourage others from coming forward. Hernandez says he hasn't touched drugs since a rehab program in 2020, but the Department of Homeland Security says he was a "clear and present threat to public safety." The 48-year-old tells the Times that he is living in hiding in Mexico and hasn't seen his kids since his arrest last year. "I was trying to do the right thing," he says. "Obviously, everything went south."
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