HomeNewsBriefTestimony: US Border Patrol Tempted by Money, Sex
BRIEF

Testimony: US Border Patrol Tempted by Money, Sex

MEXICO / 10 JUN 2011 BY STEVEN DUDLEY EN

Two top homeland security officials testifying before a U.S. Senate subcommittee this week said that they have seen a marked increase in attempts by large Mexican criminal organizations to bribe their officers with money and sexual favors.

The officials -- Charles Edwards (shown in photo), the acting inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security, and Alan Bersin, the Customs and Border Protection Commissioner -- told the Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee that they have had a 38 percent increase in the number of complaints against CBP employees since 2004. (See full video of the testimony here.)

Edwards singled out the Zetas organization, a powerful group that broke from their progenitors last year to form their own criminal gang. The CBP has grown by 34 percent since 2004, but the inspector generals’ office at CBP has only grown 10 percent.

The goal, said Bersin, is to have all potential employees pass a series of tests, such as a polygraphs, by 2013. Bersin added that 127 CBP personnel have been arrested or indicted for corruption.

The irony is not lost on Mexico: The United States Government insists that all incoming Mexican police pass similar tests in their own countries. Many police have left their units or simply been expelled.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

HOMICIDES / 19 OCT 2022

Mothers searching for their missing loved ones in Mexico have been murdered, threatened, and ignored, despite government pledges to protect…

COCAINE / 7 JUL 2022

When brothers Seth and Roberto Paisano Wood were released from prison and returned to their hometown of Brus Laguna, in…

ELITES AND CRIME / 30 SEP 2021

Evidence and accusations are piling up against Mexico's former top security official Genaro García Luna, as US prosecutors proffer new…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…