Mexican Cartels Corrupting More US Border Officials?

In El Paso, Texas, a major embarrassment for American law enforcement: U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer Margarita Crispin is sentenced to 20 years in prison for selling out to Mexican drug traffickers.

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In the Mexican drug war, U.S. authorities are finding a disturbing trend: an increase in American law enforcement officials corrupted by wealthy Mexican criminals who pay them to look the other way as illegal drugs and immigrants flow north into the United States.

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In the last five years, nearly 80 U.S. Border Patrol agents and Customs and Border Protection officers have been arrested along the Mexican border, and according to federal authorities, hundreds more officials are under investigation.

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Corruption runs deep

At a U.S. Senate hearing, it was revealed that Mexican cartel members are infiltrating American law enforcement. There was also testimony that during a hiring push that began five years ago to add thousands of Border Patrol and CBP officers, only 10 percent of the initial applicants were given polygraph tests.

Of those, 60 percent failed, raising concerns about the integrity of the others hired without screening.

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Along the border, the federal authorities aren’t the only ones facing corruption problems. Local authorities, including sheriffs and police officers, have also succumbed to the lure of drug money.

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Policing the police

To try to stem the corruption, President Obama recently signed a law requiring polygraph tests for all border patrol and customs law enforcement job applicants. Additionally, thirteen FBI anti-corruption teams now keep an eye on the 2,000-mile-long border, policing the police.

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