The story of the former DEA agent who accepts being the most corrupt in history

an anti-narcotic agent USA (DEA) who was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison for the crime of bank fraud and money laundering for a Colombian cartel gave his testimony recently. He recounted his wild parties and sex with federal money, and also said that the war against drug trafficking is an “impossible” mission. “We had a free hand to do whatever we wanted,” he recounted.

“We did fundraisers in the places we wanted to go. And once there, it was all alcohol and girls,” he declared. Jose Irizarry to the AP agency in a series of interviews given before the start of his federal prison sentence.

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irizarry accepts that being known as the most corrupt agent in the history of the DEA and admits that he “became another man” by controlling a large amount of money. He lived a life of luxury for almost 10 years: pleasure trips and the best tickets for different kinds of sporting events such as Real Madrid and Rafael Nadal duels, wild celebrations and more.

The 48-year-old former agent and his wife, Nathalia Gómez-Irizarry, were arrested in February 2020 in San Juan (Puerto Rico). The authorities then accused the couple of being involved in a scheme that for 7 years diverted more than 9 million dollars of undercover money laundering investigations from the DEA to the banks.

Irizarry also accused DEA colleagues of joining him in stealing millions of dollars from drug money laundering stings to finance a decade of luxuries. He even named US authorities who are still in this “business.”

For Jaime Antezanaa specialist in terrorism and drug trafficking, the ex-agent’s testimony demonstrates a “terrible” and global corruption network.

“So many things are said about the DEA. Many people have even come to say that the DEA He ran the drug trade. Yes you can have this kind of internal corruption. They negotiate with drug traffickers or keep drugs, like any other police in the world. They become friends and everything happens there,” he says. antezana.

Dozens of other federal agents, prosecutors, informants and the drug cartels themselves, known as “Team America”, were immersed in a dream trip with a Colombian yacht through three continents. They used money from money laundering to buy alcohol, prostitutes and attend strip clubs, as happened in Amsterdam.

“Everything this ex-agent says DEA it’s true. The police officers, knowing that they cannot defeat such a powerful enemy, an illegal business, end up using their positions to negotiate with them and end up getting involved, facilitating trafficking, and even, in many cases, getting involved in trafficking themselves. of drugs. The DEA itself ends up being part of the business. This is a recurring phenomenon, not of this century, but of the last century. I don’t know if that involves the entire DEA, I think it’s the corruption network (which is inside)”, adds the specialist.

irizarry He reached an agreement with the Prosecutor’s Office and pleaded guilty in 2020 to 19 charges against him, among others, conspiracy to commit money laundering, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

He became involved in the criminal scheme shortly after declaring bankruptcy in 2010, when he used his position as a special agent to divert to himself and his accomplices $9 million from undercover investigations into money laundering by the DEA. In exchange, the former agent received bribes and kickbacks worth at least $1 million that he used to buy jewelry, luxury cars and a home, some of which he had to return to justice.

To carry out the plan, Irizarry and his accomplices used a stolen identity with which they opened a bank account where the profits from the diverted drugs were deposited. The plot lasted as long as the designated agent was in the Miami division of the DEA and its office in Cartagena de Indias (Colombia).

The criminal actions of Irizarry and his colleagues were based on the idea shared among DEA agents around the world that there is really nothing they can do to hit the world of drug trafficking. “You cannot win an unwinnable war. The DEA knows this and the agents know this. There is so much drug that leaves Colombia. And there is so much money. We know we make no difference. The war on drugs is a game… It was a really fun game that we were playing,” he noted.

“In principle, drug trafficking cannot be defeated, what has to be done is to control it. Making control policies, damage control is called. In the Peruvian case, for example, what we have to do is try to transfer drug trafficking to Colombia or Bolivia, as happened in the 1990s; Peru was left with very little coca and cocaine production,” he concluded. antezana.

Source: Elcomercio

jack

I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.