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Over the last 10 year, almost 200 employees and contract workers of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have taken nearly US$15 million in bribes, the New York Times revealed yesterday.
According to the newspaper's investigation, these employees have looked the other way as tons of drugs and thousands of undocumented immigrants were smuggled into the United States, they have illegally sold green cards and other immigration documents, have entered law enforcement databases and given sensitive information to drug cartels.
Court reports show that last month, Eduardo Bazan, a Border Patrol agent in McAllen, Texas, was arrested and accused of helping a drug trafficking organization smuggle cocaine. Mr. Bazan admitted to receiving US$8,000 for his help.
José Cruz López a Transportation Security Administration screener at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, P.R., was arrested around the same time and accused of taking US$215,000 in bribes to help smuggle drugs.
Corruption investigators said the case of the former Border Patrol agent Ivhan Herrera-Chiang illustrates the damage a single compromised agent can cause. In 2013, he was sentenced to 15 years for providing sensitive law enforcement information to drug cartels.
Mr. Herrera-Chiang, who was assigned to a special undercover unit targeting the cartels in Yuma, Ariz., provided maps of hidden underground sensors, lock combinations to gates along the United States-Mexico border and the locations of Border Patrol traffic checkpoints to an individual who provided them to the cartels. The cartels used the information to bypass Border Patrol agents and transport methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana into the U.S.
Throughout his campaign, U.S. President-elect Donald J. Trump said border security would be one of his highest priorities. He will take office on January 20.
