Thursday, April 20, 2006

DEA sting nabs 'nuther Valley cop

I've been writing about drug-related law enforcement corruption on the border and a reader points to another example: This time an on-duty police officer in Edinburg, Jesus Mesa, was arrested along with five of his brothers as part of a DEA sting. According to the McAllen Monitor ("DEA nabs police officer, brothers in sting," April 20), "Some speculated the charges against Mesa may be part of a DEA strategy to persuade Mesa to give information against his brothers."

Flirting with understatement, the Edinburg police chief declared, “This is the type of profession that the action of one officer affects all of them ... It’s disturbing and disappointing.”

UPDATE: Reported the McAllen Monitor (4-21): "The local police officer who was arrested earlier this week as part of a federal drug sting is the youngest brother in a major family drug operation that dates back at least a decade."

NUTHER UPDATE: A second of the five brothers was also a former Valley-area cop who worked for a few years for the McAllen Police Department, reported the Monitor (4-22).
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3 comments:

  1. Anonymous4/20/2006 01:40:00 PM

    And this (http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16507113&BRD=2290&PAG=461&dept_id=569392&rfi=6): The Laredo Morning Times is reporting that a top official in the Laredo Multi-Agency Narcotics Task Force has been indicted for taking money from drug traffickers.

    - bob

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  2. Gene Espinoza4/20/2006 02:36:00 PM

    I have a small post on this one @ Edinburg Proud. Glad we can get rid of those bad apples. Oh and yes that is a understatement.

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  3. Anonymous4/21/2006 07:57:00 AM

    The problem still remains; the corruption is naturally produced as a byproduct of the drug trade, itself. This latest batch of 'bad apples' wasn't the first, and won't be the last, so long as the law leaves de facto control of the trade in the hands of criminals.

    Until this fact is faced squarely and dealt with sensibly, as our Grandparents did with the evils resulting from alcohol Prohibition, we will always have this same dreary play acted out again and again and again...only now, with budgets getting tight all over, we just can't afford the tickets to this 'theater', anymore.

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