Whistleblowers reveal tight-knit relationship between U.S. officials and drug cartels

Madison Ruppert, Contributing Writer
Activist Post

The relationship between the global drug trade and the government of the United States of America is a long, complicated and irrefutable one. Some of the most infamous dealings that have come to light have involved the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and various drug trafficking rings throughout the world.

However, it now appears that the  CIA involvement in drug trafficking is just one aspect of an incredibly close relationship between so-called authorities in America and the drug cartels they pretend to fight.

Two former law enforcement officials and confidential informants for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have now revealed that drug cartels have ties to elected officials, high-level police and even judges.

Even more disturbing, these men said that drugs are dropped by small planes on properties along the border between the United States and Mexico which are then escorted to their next stop by U.S law enforcement.

One of the whistleblowers has said that he was asked by the FBI to accept drug shipments coming from Mexico through his ranching company.

What do these two brave whistleblowers get in return? Termination of their position as informants, death threats and FBI-issued memos designed to keep other agencies from investigating their allegations.

One of these men is a retired sheriff’s deputy, Greg Gonzales, and the other is a former livestock investigator for New Mexico, Wesley Dutton.

During their 18-months as confidential informants for the FBI, they assisted in several investigations which included an inquiry that led to the arrest of FBI Special Agent John Shipley for selling guns to drug cartels.

This arrest resulted in a mere two year sentence to be served in federal prison, even though he helped narcotraffickers acquire arms that included a .50 caliber sniper rifle, an incredibly devastating weapon.
The short sentence looks even more ridiculous when one considers that federal agents recovered 17 firearms including two .50 caliber Barrett rifles; various ammunition including over 2,800 .50 caliber rounds; one silencer; and $7,340 in cash  when they executed a search warrant at Shipley’s home in 2008.

Shipley actually had posted advertisements for firearms online over 200 times, and purchased no less than 54 and sold no less than 51 weapons for over $100,000.

Unfortunately, John Shipley, who I believe should have been treated more harshly by federal authorities, was not just one bad egg among a totally upright law enforcement community.  In fact, Dutton and Gonzales have alleged that with their help the FBI dredged up some “big names” during one investigation which was then mysteriously dropped without any follow-up.

Even more mysterious (and what I consider a strong indication of guilt or at least willful ignorance on the part of the El Paso FBI) is that both men were dropped from their positions as confidential informants after the drug investigations they participated in turned up the “big names” of Americans.  Furthermore, they allege that these vicious drug cartels hold fundraisers and parties which are attended by “bankers, judges, and law enforcement officers” who very likely knew who they were involved with.

Gonzales and Dutton said that these cartels have gained large amounts of influence over these officials and even go as far to make large campaign contributions in order to keep their cronies in power.

Both of the men say that they have not been able to get anyone to actually follow through and investigate their allegations, which is a strong indication that there are some questionable dealings going on behind the scenes.

These individuals have absolutely nothing to gain by coming out with these accusations; in fact, Gonzales lost his job for a security firm at a federal courthouse and even had someone threaten him “by holding a knife to [his] throat”.

Dutton told the El Paso Times that an elected official paid him a visit during which he inquired as to what it would take for Dutton to retract his allegations.

Dutton also relayed that an FBI official issued a memo to other law enforcement agencies instructing them to stay away from both Gonzales and Dutton.

If the allegations made by these two men were hollow, why would they not only drop them as informants but then instruct other law enforcement agencies to steer clear of them?

Why would they not investigate Dutton’s allegations of “campaign fundraisers and parties in La Union that the [Juarez] cartel held for officials from New Mexico and El Paso”?

Why would they not look in to Gonzales’ claim that an American law enforcement officer sold a list of U.S. Marshals and their telephone numbers to a street gang tied to the same Juarez drug cartel?

If this allegation is true, “the gang was able to ‘clone’ the agents’ cell phones and intercept their calls. That way, they would know when one of the agents was trying to serve an arrest warrant against one of their members” according to Gonzales.

This is not the only high-tech trick of the sleeves of these drug cartels, according to Dutton and Gonzales.

They said that cartels have also been able to get a hold of access codes to computers running American surveillance systems of the border. This allows the cartels to see where and when the Border Patrol agents are monitoring the border in order to safely move guns, drugs, people, and money across the border.

Dutton issued many of these allegations in a letter directly to current Texas Governor and Presidential hopeful Rick Perry.

A spokesman for Perry’s office said that they “received the letter and referred it to the appropriate agency, which was the Department of Public Safety”.

The director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, Steven McCraw (who also just happens to be a former FBI agent from the El Paso office) at first said that he was interested in speaking with Dutton.
Only one half-hour later, McCraw suddenly changed his mind completely and said that Dutton had no credibility.

McCraw likely had missed the memo telling law enforcement to ignore their allegations when he made the first statement last Friday.

McCraw said that the Department of Public Safety “looked into and there was nothing there,” which is pretty incredible given they had a half an hour to conduct a full-scale investigation into a plethora of allegations.

Dutton revealed that the Department of Public Safety’s version of investigation includes ignoring 18 months’ worth of telephone records, documents, and videos that substantiate his allegations.

Dutton has revealed that the FBI participated directly in drug trafficking much like the CIA has for decades.

Dutton reports that, “The drugs were concealed in horse saddles, and we started getting a lot of them. But the FBI kept putting me off when I asked for the money to pay the cartels for the drugs. I had to use my own funds. The FBI still owes me thousands of dollars for these out-of-pocket expenses.”

He further reveals that he “asked the FBI for help when I started getting threats, but the only thing that happened is that everyone starting running for cover to protect their careers. One of the FBI agents said politics got in the way, and that they had to close out the investigation and end their relationship with me.”

I find it pretty disturbing that politics could get in the way of uncovering strong ties between our government and some of the most violent criminal organizations on Earth.

Then again, as Dutton and Gonzales have revealed, it is a lot more than just politics that is stopping the investigations, it is the fact that the cartels are now so interwoven with the authorities that they are nearly one and the same.

On top of using horse saddles to move drugs at the behest of the FBI, Dutton alleges that cattle shipments across the U.S.-Mexico border are utilized for drug trafficking purposes.

Unfortunately, it now appears that the Juarez drug cartel is not the only one that enjoys a special status within the United States thanks to their relationship with so-called law enforcement.

Dutton also alleges that informants made him aware of the wife of a high-level Zetas cartel member who holds a position in the Doña Ana County District Attorney’s Office.

The web of collusion with drug cartels does not stop there; indeed it spreads to such behemoth proportions that it is almost like something out of an over-the-top Hollywood film.

This web includes an El Paso doctor who issues drug prescriptions to help guilty individuals game lie detector tests. It is worthwhile to note that lie detector tests are usually inadmissible in a court of law, so one could draw the conclusion that these individuals receiving prescription drugs were likely law enforcement officers who receive in-house lie detector tests.

Due to the blatantly deliberate move to avoid investigating any of Dutton and Gonzales’ many allegations and the death threats they have received, the two whistleblowers have turned to Judicial Watch and U.S. lawmakers for assistance.

The research director for Judicial Watch, Chris Farrell commented that, “These are very serious allegations that should be investigated by law enforcement. There are too many details and specifics to just ignore them. The threats against them (Dutton and Gonzales) also should be investigated.”

Unfortunately Judicial Watch is simply a “nonpartisan educational foundation in Washington, D.C” and not law enforcement.

A few pressing questions remain: will these allegations be investigated properly or will they be swept under the rug like the FBI and Department of Public Services have both attempted to do?

How high do the links go in government and law enforcement? Will an appeal to U.S. lawmakers make a bit of difference?

How long will we continue to pretend that there is not a serious problem of corruption in our law enforcement?

How long can all of America sit by while the so-called “war on drugs” is used to rake in billions of dollars for bloodthirsty cartels and their allies in government and law enforcement?

I, for one, refuse to go on pretending that the war on drugs is legitimate and furthermore I wholeheartedly reject the notion that it is working to do anything other than get a ton of innocent people killed while making truly objectionable elements of our society filthy rich.

As Americans who are aware of what is going on, we have to do everything in our power to bring publicity to whistleblowers like these in order to uncover the truth and undermine the power enjoyed by these groups by tearing away the veil of secrecy they have enjoyed for far too long.

If you have any information on this or other instances of corruption and collusion in American law enforcement, especially regarding their relationship with drug cartels please send it to me right away at [email protected] so I can continue to bring these issues as much attention as possible.