CROSSED A LINE

Border groom a drug con

Until jail do us part. An American citizen who wed his Mexican bride in a surprise ceremony at a rare opening of a gate on the USMexico border is a convicted drug smuggler — a key detail that didn’t come up during a federal background check.

Border agents are seething that Brian Houston, of San Diego, passed a background check that allowed him to participate in the Door of Hope event at Border Field State Park, where he married Evelia Reyes of Mexico.

“The agents are upset, feel like they were taken advantage of, feel like they were duped,” Joshua Wilson, vice president of the National Border Patrol Council Local 1613, told The San Diego Union-Tribune.

“Turns out we provided armed security for a cartel wedding.”

Last month, 11 families reunited at the steel border gate, dubbed the Door of Hope, between San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico, as it was opened for about three minutes.

The gate has opened only six times since 2013.

It was there that Houston, 26, quickly exchanged vows with Reyes, 27, on a small piece of land owned by the Department of Homeland Security (pictured).

“It’s a statement that love has no borders,” Houston told reporters at the Nov. 18 event. “Even though we are divided by a giant fence here, we can still love each other on both sides of the fence.”

They wed inches away from border agents who had no idea Houston had been arrested in February while crossing the border with 43 pounds of heroin, 47 pounds of methamphetamine and 43 pounds of cocaine in his car, according to the Union-Tribune.

“We were shocked to learn this past week of Brian Houston’s very serious criminal situation,” said Enrique Morones, executive director of Border Angels, a nonprofit that organizes the Door of Hope events. “That goes against everything Border Angels stands for.”

Border Patrol spokesperson Takae Michael said Houston was “screened through an internal vetting process based on biographical information provided to us” by Morones.

“A review of the provided information, through our DHS systems, did not indicate criminal activity,” Michael told the Union-Tribune.

Border agents were also unaware that a wedding was going to take place during the event but felt powerless to stop it when Houston and Reyes showed up in their wedding clothes.

Houston pleaded guilty in May to importing drugs. His sentencing is set for Feb. 23.