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Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Convenient Timing? NYT on 'Success' of Gov. Snitch Operations in Mexico


The New York Times has made barely a ripple with its scant coverage of the Fast and Furious scandal engulfing the entire Obama Administration. But it was quick today to laud the 'success' of the federal government's snitch operations in Mexico. Could this be a case of convenient timing, given that the Administration is increasingly under the gun as a result of the Fast and Furious scandal and its cover-up?
In a news story, not an op-ed, today entitled, "U.S. Agencies Infiltrating Drug Cartels Across Mexico," reporter Ginger Thompson stated that U.S. law enforcement agencies have been able to build up a team of insider informants who have infiltrated the drug cartels, which has led to significant arrests and/or killings of high level or mid-level drug traffickers:
As the United States has opened new law enforcement and intelligence outposts across Mexico in recent years, Washington’s networks of informants have grown there as well, current and former officials said. They have helped Mexican authorities capture or kill about two dozen high-ranking and midlevel drug traffickers, and sometimes have given American counternarcotics agents access to the top leaders of the cartels they are trying to dismantle.
Typically, the officials said, Mexico is kept in the dark about the United States’ contacts with its most secret informants — including Mexican law enforcement officers, elected officials and cartel operatives — partly because of concerns about corruption among the Mexican police, and partly because of laws prohibiting American security forces from operating on Mexican soil.        
Note two key aspects contained in the quote....

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