12 Hours at the Calexico Border Crossing: Ex-Baja California Senator Alejandra León Says CBP Asked About Gov. Marina del Pilar, Days After U.S. Sanctioned the Governor’s Ex-Husband
Former Baja California senator Alejandra León Gastélum spent about 12 hours in secondary inspection at the Calexico pedestrian crossing, across from Mexicali, on Oct. 1, 2026. She says U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers asked her about Gov. Marina del Pilar Ávila. Three days earlier, the U.S. Treasury had sanctioned the governor’s ex-husband, Carlos Torres, in its “Mayito Flaco” action against Los Mayos. Early reports said León had been arrested. She says she was not.
‘No, they didn’t detain me’
La Silla Rota (Oct. 2) first reported that CBP agents detained León on the afternoon of Oct. 1 as she tried to enter the United States from Mexicali. It added that the reasons and her legal status were unknown. In a video quoted by Expansión Política (Oct. 2), León said: “¿Por qué tanto escándalo? … No me detuvieron, pasé caminando a Calexico” (“Why all the fuss? … They didn’t detain me, I walked over to Calexico”). Expansión reports her review began around 9:30 a.m. and lasted about 12 hours, that she kept her visa, and that agents from several U.S. agencies interviewed her.
El Tiempo (Oct. 2) quotes her as writing that it was “only an interview, for 12 hours, the same as in July last year… others are the ones being investigated.” Expansión says she was held 11 hours at the same crossing in July 2025, with her daughter. Síntesis TV (Oct. 2) reports she attributed the 2025 questioning to fuel-theft (huachicol) investigations.
Questions about the governor
According to Expansión and El Tiempo, León said the questions concerned the governor and recent allegations against her and Carlos Torres. She stressed that she is not part of Marina del Pilar’s group. Síntesis TV quotes her as concluding that U.S. authorities “are investigating Baja California’s entire Morena political class.” That is her own reading, and no U.S. agency has confirmed it in the reports cited.
In its Sept. 29 release, Treasury called Torres, “the ex-husband of the Governor of Baja California,” a “cartel-linked political operator” allied with “El Ruso,” and said the State Department revoked his visa in May 2025. Torres denies any criminal ties. The governor says they are legally divorced. Treasury’s release does not mention León.
Who she is
León, born in Mexicali, served as a senator for Baja California from 2018 to 2024. La Silla Rota reports she was elected on Morena’s ticket and later joined the PT’s caucus. Expansión now describes her as an environmental activist with no party affiliation. She has not been reported charged with any crime. None of the reports cited a CBP statement.
Sources
- La Silla Rota (Luis Ramos Chavero): “Detienen a la ex senadora Alejandra León Gastélum cuando entraba a EU” (Oct. 2, 2026)
- Expansión Política: “‘¿Por qué tanto escándalo? A mí no me cancelan la visa’; exsenadora Alejandra León Gastélum aclara detención” (Oct. 2, 2026)
- El Tiempo: “‘Me entrevistaron por 12 h’, desmiente exsenadora arresto en Calexico” (Oct. 2, 2026)
- Síntesis TV: “EU ‘está investigando a toda la clase política de Morena en BC’: exsenadora Alejandra León” (Oct. 2, 2026)
- U.S. Department of the Treasury: “Treasury Sanctions Sinaloa Cartel Leadership and Corruption Networks” (Sept. 29, 2026)
- Photos: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (Josh Denmark), via Wikimedia Commons and Wikimedia Commons
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Reported Oct. 2, 2026, from Mexican press reports, León’s own statements as quoted by those outlets, and a U.S. Treasury release. Accounts differ on whether she was “detained” and on when the inspection began. León is not accused of wrongdoing in any cited report, and U.S. authorities had not publicly explained the inspection.