Posted on 11/22/2008 9:36:04 PM PST by nickcarraway
Few rituals are more futile than the "housecleaning" of Mexico's police forces. So deep, broad and brazen is cop corruption south of the border that removing it makes eradicating rats from landfills look easy. Mexico stages quasi-annual purges of officers high and low — last year it was 284 federal police commanders — and yet every year it seems to find itself with an even more criminal constabulary. This year's scandals, however, are especially appalling.
Over the summer, President Felipe Calderon's anti-drug czar, Noe Ramirez, resigned abruptly. This week, the likely reason became apparent after Ramirez was detained and accused by federal officials of taking $450,000 to keep Mexico's most powerful narco mafia, the Sinaloa Cartel, informed about police anti-drug operations. He is the highest-ranking government official to be nabbed in this year's anti-corruption sweep.
But not the only one. Last month five top officials at the federal organized crime task force were collared for the same crime — after being fingered by an informant who, astonishingly, worked for both the U.S. embassy in Mexico City and the Sinaloa narcos. Days later the federal police chief, Gerardo Garay — whose predecessor, Edgar Millan, was murdered by narco hitmen last May, allegedly with the aid of a federal cop — resigned after being linked to a Sinaloa capo. Mario Velarde, a top boss of the federal police force's anti-drug unit and a former private secretary to Garcia Luna, was also detained this week, for leaking info to the narcos. Ramirez and all the accused deny the charges. But, as one federal security analyst says, it's no longer strange in Mexico's police purges "to see today's butchers become tomorrow's cows."
Mexico's real carnage, meanwhile, gets ghastlier by the day. This year the nation has logged some 4,300 drug-related murders, and analysts fear
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
“Bad cops are a mounting problem”????
HA!
My Grandparents quit going there in the 60’s because of the police corruption.
You can tell who are the honest cops in Mexico. They get gunned down.
corruption in Latin and South America like Africa is outrageously high and always has been
unfortunately, that corruption problem has now crossed into the USA and our own country is ranked pretty high itself in corruption problems.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Ramirez was paid $450,000 a month. How many of you could withstand a carrot that shiny?
I can’t swear that I could. 6 million a year is awful damn tempting!
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
I lived in Mexico and remember the Chief of Police for Mexico City earned about $10,000.00/year, and when he retired three years later, he sold his home for over $1.8
million.
Perhaps if they were paid better it might cut down on some of the corruption but there’s no guarantees for that either.
NYC’s cops certainly got sucked into the dirty life back in the 70’s.
>$10,000.00/year, to over $1.8<
It must be especially gratifying to look at your dad or husband and be able to say, “Yup, he’s a successful criminal.”
Nuke mexico
The United States is now the most corrupt nation in the world.
When one compromises ones soul, one is beyond corruption.
Deja Columbia vu
And yet we can’t get a Free Trade agreement with the successful NarcoTerror fighting allies in Columbia but bend over backwords for the NarcoTerror Government of Mexi-fascism, showering $$’s on them to fight corruption. Thanks GWB, McCain and the rest of the Liberal Guv!
Mexico is the sewer of North America. Time to flush it!
“He is the highest-ranking government official to be nabbed in this year’s anti-corruption sweep.”
No crap! The only higher person is the...President! And he might be in on it too!
I guess we were lucky, they weren't into kidnapping and murder back then.
According to the WSJ his immediate predecessor couldn't resist either. He was busted for corruption as well. Good luck to the next guy.
That’s one of those jobs that I would smile and refuse to accept while patting myself on the back for showing wisdom beyond my years. Nope, $6M a year is too tempting. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere close to it.
Ping!
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