D.E.A. Launders Mexican Profits of Drug Cartels

WASHINGTON — Undercover American narcotics agents have laundered or smuggled millions of dollars in drug proceeds as part of Washington’s expanding role in Mexico’s fight against drug cartels, according to current and former federal law enforcement officials.

The agents, primarily with the Drug Enforcement Administration, have handled shipments of hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal cash across borders, those officials said, to identify how criminal organizations move their money, where they keep their assets and, most important, who their leaders are.

They said agents had deposited the drug proceeds in accounts designated by traffickers, or in shell accounts set up by agents.

The officials said that while the D.E.A. conducted such operations in other countries, it began doing so in Mexico only in the past few years. The high-risk activities raise delicate questions about the agency’s effectiveness in bringing down drug kingpins, underscore diplomatic concerns about Mexican sovereignty, and blur the line between surveillance and facilitating crime. As it launders drug money, the agency often allows cartels to continue their operations over months or even years before making seizures or arrests.

Agency officials declined to publicly discuss details of their work, citing concerns about compromising their investigations. But Michael S. Vigil, a former senior agency official who is currently working for a private contracting company called Mission Essential Personnel, said, “We tried to make sure there was always close supervision of these operations so that we were accomplishing our objectives, and agents weren’t laundering money for the sake of laundering money.”

Another former agency official, who asked not to be identified speaking publicly about delicate operations, said, “My rule was that if we are going to launder money, we better show results. Otherwise, the D.E.A. could wind up being the largest money launderer in the business, and that money results in violence and deaths.”

CONT. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/w...-of-mexican-cartels.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

ha, i was just about to post this article... anyways everyone knows that the only reason these "drugs" are illegal is because they can make 100000% profit off a product that cost pennies to manufacture (heroin, coke, meth). If they ended this crazy "war on drugs" then their would be a multi-TRILLION dollar buisness would be turned into a multi-million dollar buisness, and would also take away the ability for the gov't to detain you and lock you in a cage to be a slave for a drug conviction that will be a stain on your "record" forever.....

wow. just wow. The DEA protects the sinaloas, gives them guns, and launders the cash. No wonder so many crooks are against auditing the Federal Reserve...

It's amazing how they can put a spin on just about anything

completely predictable and unsurprising

our gov't and ppl pulling the strings is the biggest scam all the do is take money from ppl and dont do a damn thing for it and if you blow your whistle they will end you one way or another...and yes the mass amount of ppl are brainwashed they have no idea whats goin on they believe everything that they are spoon fed...its like less than 10% know about building 7 on 9/11 in the U.S. thats sad, nobody knows the truth, our rights are almost gone we need to stand up and stop this before its too late and if you dont know what i mean at least check out bill 1867

The article says "It is not clear whether such operations are worth the risks. So far there are few signs that following the money has disrupted the cartels’ operations, and little evidence that Mexican drug traffickers are feeling any serious financial pain."

How about being ballsy journalists and saying "It's clear this does fuck-all to stop drug use. It is simply a way for the US gov't to be in bed w/ the cartels and make money off of their self-serving war on drugs."

The line "Last year, the D.E.A. seized about $1 billion in cash and drug assets, while Mexico seized an estimated $26 million in money laundering investigations, a tiny fraction of the estimated $18 billion to $39 billion in drug money that flows between the countries each year," is interesting also.

To me, that line's true meaning is more like "The cartels paid the DEA $1 billion and Mexico $26 million to look the other way while the cartels earned between $18 and $39 billion." Could it be any more clear that this "laundering" is simply a bribe to the governments to keep the war on drugs going as a way to inflate drug profits?

about 50 so-called Attorney General Exempt Operations are under way around the world

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This is the first I've heard of AGEOs. I want to find out more about them. They sound about as wholesome as extraordinary rendition.

In some cases, the officials said, Mexican agents, posing as smugglers and accompanied by American authorities, pick up traffickers’ cash in Mexico. American agents transport the cash on government flights to the United States, where it is deposited into traffickers’ accounts, and then wired to companies that provide goods and services to the cartel.

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Which companies provide goods and services to the cartels? They should be publicly named and embargoed.

I think it's very obvious that the "drug war" has been giant nefariously atrocious scam pulled over on the American people all along.

There's the "smoking gun". But no they do it "to see where the money goes". That's why they protect the Sinaloas, to "see where it get's em"... It's perfectly fine to engage in organized criminal activity as long as you cut in the federal govt

Ron Paul 2012