Rep: U.S.-Trained Security Defecting to Drug Cartels

[RobRich]

Texas Rep. Ted Poe (R-Humble) asserts up to 200 Mexican security personnel trained by the United States have defected to drug cartels to carry out killings on both sides of the border.

The renegade members of Mexico's elite counter-narcotics teams trained at Fort Benning, Ga., have switched sides, contributing to a wave of violence that has claimed some 6,000 victims over the past 30 months, including prominent law enforcement leaders, the Houston-area Republican told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

The slaughter has gained urgency amid high-profile assassinations of law officers in Mexico since May 1, claiming six senior officers, five of them with the federal police.

Poe held aloft a dramatic, poster-board-size photograph that he said showed guerrilla-style commandos crossing into the United States.

He said the Department of Homeland Security had documented "over 250 incursions by suspected military forces" into the United States over the past decade.

"I was surprised to hear that the United States has trained Mexican forces and some of those have deserted and become the reason for these attacks," Poe said.

Source: Houston Chronicle

[Atomic Rooster]

Sounds like the drug cartels are paying better.

[Sarah L]

Originally Posted by Atomic Rooster

Sounds like the drug cartels are paying better.

The cartels recruit with both the stick and carrot. I met a Columbian officer training here in the US years ago. He reported a bribe attempt made to him, 6 weeks later he was dead and so was the rest of his family.

Simple really, Take the bribe or die.

[voogru]

Originally Posted by Sarah L

The cartels recruit with both the stick and carrot. I met a Columbian officer training here in the US years ago. He reported a bribe attempt made to him, 6 weeks later he was dead and so was the rest of his family.

Simple really, Take the bribe or die.

Wow.

[jokostel]

yup...