I Wish That I Could Say That I'm Surprised

But I really am not. What worries me is not the allegation that there is corruption in the Customs management, but that no one higher up seems to be willing to do anything about it. This is a statement by a former Customs agent:

In 1998 I was running a railroad smuggling investigation. This investigation was being managed under a large-scale, multi-agency operation with the Union Pacific Railroad Police, the Burlington Northern Railroad Police, The San Bernardino Police Department and Customs. This operation had received OCDTF status from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Los Angeles, CA. OCDTF - is a fancy government acronym for Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force. In this operation, we had very high-level information that tons of narcotics were entering the U.S. via pressurized rail tanker cars. We learned that there was a large rail yard in Guadalajara that was controlled by the Arellano-Felix Cartel, and this yard was on of the Cartel’s largest narcotics distribution points. In this yard, hundreds of these cars are loaded with narcotics each week destined for the U.S.

Our information turned out to be very accurate. In April 1998, we seized a pressurized tanker car concealing 8 thousand lbs of marijuana and 34 Kilos of cocaine. Subsequent to making this seizure, this large, successful rail operation and the two criminal investigations under its umbrella were immediately torpedoed by Customs management. An attempted controlled delivery of the seized narcotics was thwarted, my help was pulled, and my partner Ruben Sandoval and I came under immediate pressure, retaliation, and intimidation tactics on an enormous scale when we refused to shut down this operation and cease to do our job.

Several weeks after our first seizure, we identified 5 more suspected tanker cars. These cars were manifested as empty, and they were 5 to 9 tons overweight. I set it up with the Union Pacific rail police to have these cars pressure tested at no cost to the government. Pressure testing is a necessary tool to further profile whether these cars should be bled out and checked. This profiling is necessary do to the fact that it cost approximately $8,000 to $14,000 a pop to inspect these cars. To further clarify, these are the long, metal, cylindrical shaped rail cars that many often think as carrying oil. These cars routinely carry a myriad of hazardous materials, and can only be inspected at the very few hazardous material inspection locations that exist on the southern border that also has scales that are necessary to weigh these cars. This is what makes these cars very difficult and dangerous to inspect, a fact that Narco-Traffickers know all too well.

I had these 5 suspected cars, again manifested as empty and 5 to 9 tons overweight, ready to be pressure tested, and I was told not to do my job. Several days later, these cars were released into the commerce of the U.S. uninspected in any way. These cars should have never left that yard without at least being pressure tested. Subsequent to this incident, I was again pressured to shut down my operation, and Customs managers torpedoed my criminal investigations. The U.S. Attorneys office had assigned a very good, very aggressive prosecutor that was appalled as to what was going on. I found myself caught between the U.S. Attorneys Office and my agency.

I chose to continue attempting to run the rail operation. When other loyal Customs employees attempted to assist me on this case, they came under the same retaliation, threats, intimidation, and pressure as Ruben and I. Our careers, reputations, and personal lives were ruined.

Think about it for a minute. Even if you aren't concerned about the importation of tons of marijuana and cocaine--how difficult would it be for al-Qaeda to work out a deal with drug smugglers to replace that with tons of nerve gas or a nuclear bomb?