Corruption On The Border: Dismantling Misconduct In The Rio Grande Valley

[Xipe Totec]

In the past two decades, no fewer than five sheriffs have been busted for corruption. And from 2000 to 2013, 13 U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents went to prison.

"I was a cop who went drug dealer. That's what it is," says Jonathan Treviño, a former police narcotics squad leader who is serving 17 years in a federal penitentiary. Last year, his entire unit went to prison for seizing dope and selling it back to traffickers in Hidalgo County.

"No one forced us. No one held a gun to our heads. No one threatened the families, saying, 'You better participate in illegal activity.' No, we all decided to abuse our position," he said in an interview inside the prison.

Jonathan Treviño's father, Lupe, who was Hidalgo County's powerful and popular sheriff, is serving a five-year prison term for a separate conviction. He admitted taking $10,000 in illegal campaign contributions from a drug trafficker known as The Rooster, with ties to the Gulf Cartel.

http://www.npr.org/2015/07/06/413463836/corruption-on-the-border-dismantling-misconduct-in-the-rio-grande-valley

[CanonRay]

1. I spend several months down there in the winter

in Hidalgo County, and it is the single most corrupt place I've ever seen. I grew up in Cook County, IL by the way. Every facet of government from the cops to the school boards are completely corrupt. The amount of Medicare/Medicaid fraud (by providers) is off the charts. I'm not sure why it is so, but there is a pervasive culture of corruption.

[okasha]

2. It's the residual effect

Last edited Mon Jul 6, 2015, 01:57 PM - Edit history (1)

of the patrón system, coupled with recruitment by the cartels. The Medicare fraud has become endemic. Years ago, I spent a year on a federal grand jury while prosecutors put an extremely complicated case together. Normal term is six months, but we were asked to stay on so that there would be continuity as the case developed. We also got a sheriff's deputy who was dealing.

[Xipe Totec]

3. That, and a 40% unemployment rate makes the place ripe for corruption. nt

[okasha]

4. That segment of the Lower Valley,

a cluster of counties in mid-Mississippi and the SW corner of South Dakota (Pine Ridge Rez) are the three poorest areas in the nation.