DEA Agents Joked Inappropriately Before Alleged Incident

(HorizonPost.com) – A new investigation into the biggest corruption scandal in the US Drug Enforcement Administration’s history reveals the extent of the “culture of corruption” among the DEA agents involved.

The Associated Press reviewed thousands of never-before-seen law enforcement documents, including a recovered WhatsApp chat in which a group of DEA agents boasted of their “world debauchery tour” and exchanged explicit images and messages.

The group chat involved five agents identified by the Associated Press, including the notoriously corrupt José Irizarry, who is currently serving 12 years in federal prison after being sentenced in December 2021 for money laundering and fraud.

The yearlong chat depicts the life of a DEA agent as a non-stop party, with the agents planning official travel around booze and women, knowing that their encrypted messages would never be seen by superiors.

One of the more vile discussions in the chat included violent rape fantasies, including a fantasy one of the agents carried out on a 23-year-old woman in a Madrid hotel room in 2018.

The chat features frequent messages about prostitutes, including two references by agents about assaulting them and letting an informant “clean up” for them afterward.

Despite the flagrant corruption, the Drug Enforcement Administration has refused to discuss its handling of the case and refused to comment on the details the Associated Press uncovered.

Instead, the agency sent a statement calling the misconduct “unacceptable” and “egregious,” and insisting that the corrupt agents did not reflect “the high standards expected” from DEA personnel.

Former US Attorney Ben Greenberg reviewed the WhatsApp messages obtained by the Associated Press and described the content as “beyond appropriate.” He said the chats were “not just grotesque banter” but “evidence of a crime.”

A federal grand jury in Tampa has been investigating money laundering among DEA agents for years, following evidence outlined by José Irizarry after he pleaded guilty in 2020.

Despite the grand jury probe and additional FBI investigations into DEA misconduct and money laundering, Irizarry remains the only DEA agent to face criminal charges.

Copyright 2024, HorizonPost.com