Cristian Duran-Castro v. Loretta Lynch

MEMORANDUM

Cristian Andres Duran-Castro, a native and citizen of Mexico, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s decision finding him statutorily ineligible for cancellation of removal. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review for substantial evidence the agency’s determination that a petitioner knowingly engaged in drug trafficking. Chavez-Reyes v. Holder, 741 F.3d 1, 3 (9th Cir. 2014). We deny the petition for review.

The record of conviction regarding Duran-Castro’s Arizona conviction for solicitation to commit sale or transportation of narcotic drugs for sale provided the BIA substantial evidence that there was “reason to believe” Duran-Castro had been knowingly involved in drug trafficking. See 8 U.S.C. § 1182 (a)(2)(C)(i) (providing that an alien is inadmissible if there is “reason to believe” that he is or has been an “illicit trafficker in any controlled substance”); Chavez-Reyes, 741 F.3d at 3 (circumstantial evidence, coupled with the petitioner’s guilty plea, supported the BIA’s “reason to believe” finding). The agency therefore properly determined Duran-Castro was…