Recent events coming out of the offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Customs and Border Patrol officials reveal a weak chink in the steel fences on our national border. It appears that as we are working hard to strengthen our national security's interest with more resources to fight illegal immigration and the trespass of foreign internationals that seek to destroy our American way of life through violence and terrorism, there is a perfect storm brewing on this side of the fence by our own border inspectors who are now being exposed to be involved in illegal moneymaking schemes.
Stressing very strongly to the readers that we are not talking about the majority of crime fighters assigned along the border, data released from federal law agencies are revealing as well as suggesting a serious trend of lawlessness by men and women hired to work the border assignments. These persons are hired for purposes of interdiction and confiscation of illegal drugs [and money], weapons and moneymaking scenarios sponsored by either the Mexican drug cartel or criminals looking to exploit and make profit of those endless opportunities to make a buck off criminal activities.
Taking an excerpt from a quote by a FBI supervisor “Border agents and Customs inspectors are exposed to endless illegal moneymaking opportunities. Dozens of officers in recent years have turned their government jobs into illicit riches, funding desert estates and Las Vegas gambling binges, luxury cars and buying sprees at Tiffany's."It's such a perfect storm, if you will, down there along the southwest border, with the vast supply of money and the aggressive tactics of the cartels," said Terry Reed, an FBI supervisory agent.
The record reflects since October 2004, “132 Customs employees have been indicted or convicted on corruption-related charges, the majority from the Southwest border. Since 2006, the number of investigations has more than tripled, from 244 to about 870 last year, according to the Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General. Of the 24,000 Customs agents along the southwest border, about half were hired in the last five years. The agency is on track to hire 2,500 additional agents in the next year.” suggestions for better background checks and revisiting hiring standards to improve these statistics is on the table for the agency to consider as the need to hire more agents drives the possibilities of hiring bad candidates that have shown a willingness to violate the laws to enrich themselves with the profits of working this sensitive territory that divides the United States from Mexico or Canada.
Source:
http://centerforinvestigativereporting.org/node/4885
