(CBSLA) — A Los Angeles police officer has been arrested on federal charges alleging he tried to smuggle two illegal immigrants into the United States this week in southeastern San Diego County.

FILE — LAPD officer Mambasse Koulabalo Patara. August 2017. (Credit: Facebook)

Mambasse Koulabalo Patara has been charged with violating immigration laws, according to a federal complaint filed Wednesday.

He was arrested early Tuesday morning at a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint in Pine Valley, located about 12 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border.

According to the complaint, at 12:15 a.m. Tuesday, Patara drove up to the checkpoint with two male passengers in a 2006 Toyota Corolla.