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Nearly 80 U.S. border officials have been arrested in the last five years for helping Mexican drug cartels, and hundreds more are under investigation.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s according to MSNBC, which detailed the situation last week<\/a>. From the MSNBC article:<\/p>\n \u201cIn El Paso, Texas, a major embarrassment for American law enforcement: U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer Margarita Crispin is\u00a0sentenced to 20 years in prison<\/a> for selling out to Mexican drug traffickers.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018It was amazing to us to find out that Margarita Crispin received $5 million for her services to allow loads of marijuana to come through her checkpoint along the border,\u2019 assistant director of the Criminal Investigative Division of the FBI told NBC News.<\/p>\n \u201cIn 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.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018It is the single most debilitating factor in successful law enforcement on the border, and we do a horrible job of weeding that corruption out,\u2019 says retired DEA supervisor Anthony Coulson.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The article states that nearly 80 U.S. Border Patrol agents and Customs and Border Protection officers have been arrested in the last five years, and hundreds more are under investigation.<\/p>\n The article makes no mention of the current case against the Columbus mayor, police chief and town councilor who are charged with being part of a firearms trafficking ring that was illegally smuggling guns into Mexico<\/a>. Prosecutors have also hinted that those charged in the Columbus case may have been involved in trafficking drugs into the United States.<\/p>\n However, according to MSNBC, there are other local government officials who have been busted. From the article:<\/p>\n \u201cIn South Texas, former Sheriffs Conrado Cantu and Reymundo Guerra were jailed for helping Mexican smugglers, while in nearby Zapata County, Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez says corruption is rampant.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018It\u2019s greed, that\u2019s what it\u2019s been all the time, it\u2019s greed. It\u2019s just wanting that extra $10,000, $15,000, $20,000,\u2019 Gonzalez explains.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Read more here<\/a>. Or watch the full video report here:<\/p>\n