Free Republic

(2006) The US media have virtually ignored this story. The Observer is the first newspaper to have spoken to Janet Padilla, and this is the first narrative account to appear in print. The House Of Death suddenly seemed set to become a major national scandal. On 24 February, Sandy Gonzalez, the Special Agent in Charge of the DEA office in El Paso wrote to his Ice counterpart, John Gaudioso. 'I am writing to express to you my frustration and outrage at the mishandling of investigation that has resulted in unnecessary loss of human life,' he began, 'and endangered the lives...

There is one chair in the room, and they sit him in it. He pulls out his wallet. He's looking for a number. A phone number, an address. That is why he is here. Fernando the lawyer. Fernando the drug trafficker. He's got a load of marijuana, and they want it.Fernando thinks he's in the company of friends. He thinks this man standing in front of him, this Lalo, is going to deliver the marijuana for him to New York. That's what the numbers are for. They are contacts. They are the people Lalo will call, the people who are...

Former U.S. Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who were given long jail terms for shooting at a fleeing drug smuggler, today told Fox News Channel host Glenn Beck that they were sustained by prayers of the American people and their spirits were lifted by their letters. The two were interviewed on Beck's program in their first television interview allowed under the terms of their probation after President Bush commuted their sentences on his last day in office. They just were released from ankle bracelet restrictions and still face limits on with whom they can talk. One of...

What happened to justice in America? It certainly wasn’t served on July 28 when the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the unjust convictions of Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. As it stands today, these two brave border protectors must now serve out their full 10-plus-year sentences for shooting and wounding a Mexican drug smuggler they encountered while he was carrying a million-dollar payload of narcotics along the Southern border in Texas. What started off as simple procedural mistakes by the agents has turned into an unimaginable travesty of justice unlike anything I’ve ever seen in...

Informer tells of corrupt Mexico October 25, 2007 By Jerry Seper - An informant who worked for U.S. authorities for more than four years says government, police and military authorities in Mexico have been corrupted by drug smugglers, often carrying out kidnappings and killings on the orders of drug cartel bosses. The accusations are outlined in sworn testimony before a U.S. immigration judge by Guillermo Eduardo Ramirez Peyro, a former Mexican police officer who was paid $224,000 for information U.S. anti-drug agents used to convict dozens of high-ranking Mexican drug traffickers. Ramirez told U.S. Immigration Judge Joseph R. Dierkes in...

It seems the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas, overseen by Johnny Sutton from his throne in San Antonio, has a PR problem when it comes to dealing with drug smugglers. In the high-profile case of the two Border Patrol agents in Texas who are now serving long prison terms for shooting a drug smuggler in the rear end, conservative media outlets are proclaiming that Sutton’s office showed special favor to the smuggler in order to ruin the lives of the agents. Likewise, in the House of Death mass murder case, an informant was shown special consideration...

(CNSNews.com) - A paid Mexican informer for the U.S. government who worked in an undercover operation targeting a major narcotics cartel allegedly went off the rails and was involved in more than a dozen murders. Amid allegations of a bungled investigation and an accompanying cover-up, at least one member of Congress is calling for hearings into the matter (see related story). Guillermo Ramirez Peyro is now fighting an attempt by the U.S. government to deport him and said he fears for his life at the hands of the cartel should he be sent back to Mexico. Statements from key players...

When 12 bodies were found buried in the garden of a Mexican house, it seemed like a case of drug-linked killings. But the trail led to Washington and a cover-up that went right to the top. David Rose reports from El Paso Janet Padilla's first inkling that something might be wrong came when she phoned her husband at lunchtime. His mobile phone was switched off. On 14 January, 2004, Luis had, as usual, left for work at 6am, and when he did not answer the first call Janet made, after taking the children to school, she assumed he was busy....