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US Border Officials Corrupted by Mexican Cartels?

By Stephanie Rabiner, Esq. on April 15, 2011 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Congress and the states have placed a renewed emphasis on illegal immigration as of late. However, the drug trade, and its impact on the strength of our southern border, have taken a back seat in the national conversation.

The fact is that the U.S. is not faring much better than its southern neighbors in keeping drugs out of the country. Evidence shows that border corruption is a widespread problem as more and more patrol agents succumb to the monetary bribes of Mexican cartels.

Perhaps the most infamous case of border corruption involves Margarita Crispin, a border patrol agent who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for taking $5 million from a Mexican cartel to allow marijuana into the country.

The FBI investigated Margarita Crispin for over four years before it had enough evidence to indict her. That's four years of unencumbered drug trade.

At a recent Senate hearing, testimony told of how, in the last five years, 80 other border patrol agents and officers have been arrested for corruption along the Mexican border, report MSNBC.

Not only that, Senators learned that cartel members are taking border corruption to a new level by infiltrating border protection agencies.

To help curb border corruption, President Obama has signed into law a bill requiring all border patrol and customs enforcement applicants to undergo polygraphs, notes MSNBC.

One has to question whether a polygraph is enough. The fact is that this new wave of border corruption goes beyond Margarita Crispin and involves highly trained operatives.

It also involves a lot of money. And we all know what people are willing to do for money.

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