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Public Safety

Mexican Drug Cartels Infiltrating U.S. Border, Immigration and Transportation Agencies

By Amy Isackson / Border Reporter
Published March 11, 2010 at 12:33 PM PST
This story was published more than 14 years ago.
U.S. Border Patrol agents carry out special operations near the US-Mexico border fence near the rural town of Campo, some 60 miles east of San Diego, California, July 30, 2009.
David McNew
U.S. Border Patrol agents carry out special operations near the US-Mexico border fence near the rural town of Campo, some 60 miles east of San Diego, California, July 30, 2009.
Mexican Drug Cartels Infiltrating U.S. Border, Immigration and Transportation Agencies
US Customs and Border Protection officials say Mexican drug cartels are infiltrating federal law enforcement agencies. But, officials say they don't have the resources to weed out all of the corrupt officers.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials say Mexican drug cartels are infiltrating federal law enforcement agencies. But, officials say they don't have the resources to weed out all of the corrupt officers.

Customs and Border Protection Assistant Commissioner James Tomshceck told a Senate panel that 60 percent of agents hired recently may be unsuitable for employment. Tomshceck called it alarming.

Read testimony and statements from the Senate hearing

This comes as drug cartels in Mexico try to get their people hired as U.S. Customs agents and as cartels try to corrupt existing ones.

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TJ Bonner, is president of the union that represents Border Patrol agents. He says it's no wonder cartels have been able to infiltrate.

"They are bringing people on board without giving them a thorough background investigation. Teaching them all the tricks of the trade, giving them access to the keys to the kingdom, and then as an afterthought completing a less than thorough background investigation," says Tomsheck.

Customs and Border Protection officials say a shortage of inspectors means just 10 percent of new hires get polygraph tests -- 60 percent fail.

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Public Safety Drug WarTijuana
Amy Isackson
Amy Isackson was the border reporter at KPBS from 2004 to 2011. She covered breaking news and feature stories on California-Mexico border issues and immigration, for local and national broadcast. Amy got her start in public radio by pitching a series of stories about rural New Zealand - horse dentistry and sheep sheering - to Radio New Zealand's "Country Life" program. She then worked with Peabody Award-winning radio producers Nikki Silva and Davia Nelson, to help create the Sonic Memorial, a series of stories on the World Trade Center before, during and after 9/11. Amy's work has been recognized with awards from the Associated Press Television-Radio Association of California and Nevada, the California Chicano News Media Association, and the San Diego Press Club. She won the Sol Price Prize for Responsible Journalism in 2009 from the Society of Professional Journalists for her story about high school students smuggling people and drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border. Prior to venturing into the wonderful world of public radio, Amy worked for Yahoo! Inc. for nearly five years as an editorial surfer, associate producer and broadcast communications manager. She majored in Latin American History at Williams College. She grew up in San Diego and made frequent trips south of the border.
See stories by Amy Isackson
KPBS News: Public Safety Policy
KPBS has created a public safety coverage policy to guide decisions on what stories we prioritize, as well as whose narratives we need to include to tell complete stories that best serve our audiences. This policy was shaped through months of training with the Poynter Institute and feedback from the community. You can read the full policy here.
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