Veteran journalist extraordinaire Sharyl Attkisson made the shocking assertion that Mexican cartels have infiltrated the U.S. military and U.S. law enforcement agencies–and she is correct. Her assertion is backed up by years of Breitbart Texas reports showing that some U.S. soldiers have worked for cartel efforts to smuggle humans and drugs and that far too many in U.S. federal law enforcement agencies have fallen into working for Mexican cartels.

Attkisson’s assertion was made on Breitbart News Daily to host Stephen K. Bannon. She stated on the June 24, 2016 show:

On the other hand, I think about the military guys, and they may think, is this a victimless crime? It’s really not illegal to come to this country. The two Mexicans they had been transporting last week had each been removed from the US three times before. And maybe they think, why shouldn’t I make some money on the side doing something the government doesn’t really mind. They don’t mind if the illegal immigrants come here.

I think they know about it. And it’s people inside Border Patrol and inside the military who have long been involved in smuggling drugs, as well as smuggling humans. They’re well aware of it. They don’t talk about it much but it’s well known inside. I’ll be doing a story in the Fall about corruption inside the Border Patrol which is just out of control. There’s so many agents. The cartels place people inside Border Patrol now, smugglers place people inside Border Patrol get them hired there. It’s a big issue.

As Breitbart Texas previously reported, FBI Director James Comey discussed a public corruption task force created particularly for border officials. “The color of of corruption is green,” Comey said at the time.

Breitbart Texas began reporting on U.S. soldiers taking part in human smuggling and trafficking in 2014, shortly after federal authorities began to identify and target the trend. At the time, agents with U.S. Homeland Security Investigations started to unravel a large smuggling operation using U.S. military personnel. On September 2014, HSI agents arrested a soldier at the Sarita checkpoint about 70 miles north of the Texas border when he drove a vehicle with two illegal aliens hiding under military clothing spread in the vehicle. At the time of the arrest the soldier was in his military uniform. During questioning by HSI agents, he admitted to having driven through the checkpoint at least two other times.

Along the Texas border, federal agents have not been immune from the temptation of crossing over to the side of drug cartels. In November 2015, Breitbart Texas reported on how Joel Luna, a U.S. Border Patrol agent had been the alleged mastermind behind a Gulf Cartel drug smuggling group. The group is believed to be responsible for the murder of a man whose headless body was found by fishermen in the resort city of South Padre Island. At the time of Agent Luna’s arrest, authorities seized a large amount of cash, drugs, a jeweled handgun, his government issued weapons and other items.

The most recent case of infiltration of cartel smuggling groups within federal agencies was made public last month, when Breitbart Texas reported on the activities of a group that used law enforcement officials to steal drugs. In that operation, authorities arrested U.S. Border Patrol Agent Daniel Polanco and several other local and county cops in connection with their alleged role in the drug thefts. The group would be hired by drug dealers to move the loads up north. Instead of moving the all of the drug loads, the members would at time use the cops and agents to trick drug dealers into thinking that the shipment had been seized.

Breitbart Texas reported in January 2016 on the arrest of a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer from McAllen, Texas, who has been charged in federal court in connection with the rigging of U.S. visas. According to authorities, former officer Julio Trujillo is accused of taking $3,600 in exchange for extending the visa of one individual and for assisting a second person in getting a visa. Trujillo is accused of using his position to access a “protected government computer” to do a query on one of the individuals that bribed him.

In late November 2015, Arizona state authorities arrested a U.S. Border Patrol agent who was moving a cocaine load from the border to Chicago for the Sinaloa Cartel, as Breitbart Texas reported. In that case, Arizona State Troopers pulled over Agent Juan Pimentel on a traffic violation and ended up finding 110 pounds of cocaine hidden in his vehicle.

From December 2014 until October 2015, Breitbart Texas reported on the case against CBP officer Jose Luis Zavala. The former federal official is serving a six and a half year prison sentence for his role in a cartel smuggling operation. Zavala would use his post as a CBP officer at an international bridge to wave through loaded cartel vehicles.

In July 2015, Breitbart Texas reported on the arrest of Lawrence Madrid, a CBP officer from El Paso. Agents with Homeland Security Investigations arrested Madrid following an investigation into the claims made by two illegal immigrants about to be deported who said they had entered the country with the help of a CBP officer.

The list compiled above is far from a complete accounting of the numerous articles detailing Mexican cartel corruption spreading to the U.S. military and federal law enforcement agencies Breitbart Texas has published over the past several years. However, the provided list indicated that Attkisson is correct in her assertion.



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