Monday, January 9, 2006

The Drug War: a self-replicating organism nourished in the muck of corruption From the Narco News Bulletin: Leaked Memo: Corrupt DEA Agents in Colombia Help Narcos and Paramilitaries The drug war is supposed to follow a very clear script: According to the official screenwriters, the U.S. justice system is pitted against corrupt players in foreign countries who are trying to flood American streets with illicit drugs. The narco-traffickers, crooked cops, and thieving politicians in the drug war are always over there, in Latin America, and elsewhere, and U.S. law enforcers and government officials are always the good guys battling these forces of evil. But what happens when evidence surfaces that turns that script on its ear? What happens if proof emerges that it is the U.S. justice system that is corrupt? A document obtained recently by Narco News [pdf] makes those questions more than hypothetical queries. In this document, Department of Justice attorney Thomas M. Kent claims that federal agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration's office in Bogotá, Colombia, are the corrupt players in the war on drugs. Surprise, surprise. (The author does sacrifice some clarity in that last sentence, however. It should probably read: "federal agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration's office in Bogotá, Colombia, are also corrupt players in the war on drugs" since there is certainly no shortage of corruption within the Colombian factions.) More on DEA corruption in Colombia here. 8:34:50 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []