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Corruption on the Border

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Subject: Airport Security:
 

I have been in law enforcement for about 25 years until recently when I
left U.S. Customs in 1998. I also have a martial arts background of 33 years. I was also in the United States Secret Service and was stationed in Washington,D.C.  protecting Presidents and their families at The White House as well as protecting embassies and dignitaries.
 
I am considered an expert at screening people, luggage, vehicles, commercial trucks, containers, commercial and private airplanes, ships and small
boats, military, dignitaries, etc....I was also cross trained as an INS official and can process foreigners with passports.
 
I can say with confidence that there is not enough "proper" security or
security personnel who are trained well enough to conduct proper screening
of persons who are boarding aircraft as well as their luggage.
 
I for one have been very critical of the way our government operates at the
nation's borders with regards to U.S.Customs and U.S. Immigration screening
procedures for at least 7 years.
 
I am also in touch with other "former" and "current" law enforcement
personnel who confide in me on a daily basis about the horrible conditions
in which our government is allowed to operate.
 

One former Vietnam Vet and law enforcement official who recently traveled
out of Lindbergh Field told me that a national guardsmen checked his
luggage by merely pushing on the luggage. Unless this young man was clairvoyant or had X-Ray eyes, he did not do his job correctly. The luggage should have
been visually inspected after opening the luggage.
 
On another occasion another former law enforcement officer traveled from
Chicago and was NOT checked properly when the "metal wand" was used for
detecting metal objects after setting off the "walk through" device. The
female guard was challenged by the former law enforcement official and
asked why she did not check further if there was a possible metal object in the
crotch area and the female guard stated, "Oh, we're not allowed to touch
people there. It's an invasion of privacy laws". This women security guard
was over the age of 50.
 
Let me explain further that hiring national guard personnel is not a good
thing unless they have been properly trained and know how to deal with the
public. I have worked with national guard units at the border since 1989
and a very small percentage last very long. Only national guard units with
assignments as M.P.'s or Military Police or who have a law enforcement
background should be allowed to conduct special security at check points.
 
I have seen other occasions where national guard are very helpful, but did
not really have the proper training and experience to be allowed to have
contact with the general public.
 
Now we are having these weekend warriors thrown at us with fully automatic
rifles. Not all of these national guardsmen are fully trained with law
enforcement backgrounds and some are females over the age of 40. I just
hope they can retain their weapons if they are challenged? If I was a terrorist,
I wouldn't need to bring any weapons if I can take one away from an older
female or male guardsman with little difficulty. Weapons retention is one of
the more serious things you learn in law enforcement academies and martial
arts.
 
I have also been told that people weren't being checked properly at an airport in Massachusetts and Vermont recently as well.
 
It is time we put people in charge of security at the airports who have a
specialized background and training. We can not rely on minimum wage
security guards who have no real expertise. I think we should "Federalize"
all International Airports and deputize the security U.S. Marshal's.
 
I can also tell you about specific security problems at Lindbergh Field
with regards to my apprehending at least a "dozen" baggage handler employees who
were caught violating the Federal Inspection areas while a "foreign"
commercial aircraft was being processed. They tried to enter the restricted
areas without a proper Customs security seal. (This is how they smuggle at
the airports as well as intercept undeclared merchandise on the plane that
never arrives in the Customs inspection areas)
 
I was not well liked by Customs management for doing my job.
 

I have recently communicated my concerns to the White House and the Office
of Homeland Security without any real responses as of yet.
 

John Carman-Former U.S. Customs
Editor of  www.customscorruption.com

Airport Security Too Lax

Travelers Complain

http://www.uniontrib.com/news/uniontrib/mon/news/news_1n5secure.html

By Jeff McDonald
STAFF WRITER

November 5, 2001

While federal lawmakers continue to argue over how best to safeguard airports across the United States, passengers flying into and out of Lindbergh Field since Sept. 11 are finding huge lapses in security.

According to an informal survey of airline passengers conducted by The Union-Tribune, striking inconsistencies exist between the way identification, tickets and luggage are checked in San Diego and elsewhere.

Air terminals in many American cities have yet to implement uniform standards for even the most cursory safety inspections.

Travelers may be passed through checkpoints in 10 minutes at one airport and delayed for hours at another. Pocket knives or other potential weapons are confiscated before some flights but are missed altogether before others.

Airline workers told to compare photo IDs with boarding passes often fail to make eye contact with ticket holders. Empty cars sometimes idle unchecked in front of passenger loading zones.

One flier said a guard at an airport metal detector could not speak enough English to ask a passenger to remove a laptop computer from its carrying case.

"If there is increased security at U.S. airports, the FAA is keeping it well hidden," said Shiela Rabell, an apartment manager from Alpine who traveled to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, last month through San Diego and Phoenix.

Last week, The Union-Tribune asked readers to submit their recent travel experiences in letter form to an e-mail account set up by the paper. Sixty-eight people responded with stories of lax oversight, inattentive guards or airline employees and potential gaps in safety protocols.

In interviews and in the letters, many expressed worry that most checked luggage is not X-rayed or that suitcases are not routinely checked for matching to passengers once their flights arrive and they prepare to leave the airport.

Ed and Karyl Brabants of Tierrasanta traveled to Providence, R.I., two weeks after the terrorist attacks. They anticipated heavy security along the way, but were unpleasantly surprised.

"It was business as usual," said Ed Brabants, a retired postal worker. "We were stunned that there appeared to be no tightening of security at all."

During a journey last month to Central America, Tim and Amy Concannon twice made it through airports in Dallas and San Diego with a 2-inch Swiss Army knife dangling from a key chain.

"The knife was brought to our attention by the Costa Rican security," said Amy Concannon, an Escondido veterinarian who was surprised when inspectors returned the knife to her husband. "It was then missed again by American security on our return flight from Dallas to San Diego."

The hijackers accused in the Sept. 11 attacks are suspected of using box cutters to overwhelm flight crews and crash planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Jane Dale wrote that when she traveled from San Diego to Alaska on Sept. 21, security crews confiscated a quarter-inch nail clipper but failed to inspect the contents of a lead bag designed to protect film from X-rays.

"It would seem that if they can't see it, it can't be dangerous," she said. "I could have carried a weapon on board undetected."

Not a secret

"It is time we put people in charge of security at the airports who have a specialized background and training," he said. "We cannot rely on minimum-wage security guards who have no real expertise."

Most other responses to the survey recounted stories of guards who failed to inspect identification or paperwork, metal objects slipping through detectors or agents who did not require proof from people claiming to be airline or airport employees.

Not all respondents were skeptical of the tightened security that has been publicized by government officials, however. A handful of fliers, like Dianne Lohner of Mira Mesa, praised the strict new enforcement policies.

"We were glad to see the extra security processes in place and definitely felt safe about flying," said Lohner, who returned Oct. 29 from a 10-day trip to Portland, Ore.

Federal legislation intended to plug holes in airport and airline security stalled last week in Congress, where dueling bills failed to muster majority support from both houses.

At issue is whether baggage checkers should become federal employees, a prospect most Republicans oppose. Democrats say private-security policies now in place do not adequately protect passengers.

Hiring is an issue

Argenbright Security, for example, the nation's largest airport security firm, was accused by the Justice Department of hiring screeners with criminal records at Los Angeles International and other airports.

In San Diego, one of the companies that inspects Lindbergh Field filed for bankruptcy protection days after the terrorist attacks on New York City and the Pentagon, although the company said the filing was not linked to the attacks. Officials say local passengers remain safe.

Resolving the impasse on whether to turn airport security crews into federal workers is likely to take negotiators from the House and Senate weeks.

In the meantime, Jerry Snyder of the Federal Aviation Administration office in Los Angeles maintains that consistent standards for airline security at the nation's airports make air travel safe.

Yet, he added, "how those standards are achieved is given latitude for the various air carriers and their security forces."

Government investigators years ago identified major security breaches at American airports. In reports issued in 1993 and 1999, the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Transportation recommended sweeping reforms.

"Airport access control has been, and continues to be, an area of great concern," the 1999 report states.

According to inspectors, that analysis was all but ignored.

Divided roles

Even though federal regulations spell out specific responsibilities for airlines and airport managers, the extent of inspections can vary greatly from gate to gate and airport to airport.

"Everyone is doing a good job, but is it consistent? No," said Rita Vandergaw, spokeswoman for the San Diego Unified Port District, which oversees Lindbergh Field. "This is a challenge for us, as it is at many airports."

Rather than dividing responsibility for passenger safety inside the terminals between airports and carriers, Vandergaw said the port district would prefer that airports be given complete authority over security.

"If airports had the responsibility for which they're held accountable, anyway, you would get a more consistent (enforcement) standard," she said.

Mexico Police Probe Mystery Corpse   By Isaac Guzman Associated Press Writer Saturday, February 23, 2002; 7:00 AM MAZATLAN, MEXICO öö The first parade of Carnaval was still hours away, but local families were already setting up folding chairs along Mazatlan's beachfront boulevard to be sure of a clear view. In the tourist-heavy Zona Dorada, state police agents called in to give extra security for the local version of Mardi Gras said they saw guns through the windows of a Volkswagen Bug cruising past bars, hotels and souvenir shops. They began to follow the vehicle around 10:30 a.m. The resulting chase on Feb. 10 left three men dead on the sidewalks. Nearly two weeks later, Mexican and U.S. officials are trying to figure out if one of them was Ramon Arellano Felix, allegedly one of the world's most violent drug traffickers and a fixture on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list. "We are investigating, looking for evidence," Mexican Attorney General Rafael Macedo de la Concha said Friday as he accompanied President Vicente Fox on a tour of the Guatemalan border region. He said his agency is "exchanging information" with U.S. officials. "We have to exhaust all the tools that exist so that we can establish whether this hypothesis is a reality," he said. In Washington, DEA spokesman Michael Chapman said Friday that U.S. officials were investigating reports of the killing. The death of Arellano Felix would be a major blow to the Tijuana-based cartel allegedly run by he and his brothers, officials say. Ramon Arellano Felix is the security chief for a group accused of killing about 300 police, prosecutors, judges, rivals and a Roman Catholic cardinal over the past 15 years while shipping tons of cocaine, marijuana, heroin and amphetamines across the border. According to police accounts, the men in the Volkswagen drove into a parking garage near the Plaza Gaviota Hotel and fled on foot ö one briefly seeking shelter in the room of two Mexican college students who had come to play in a Carnaval band. Finally the suspects emerged and began exchanging shots with the police. One of the policemen and two of the suspects were killed. Two others were captured and another man ö who turned out to be a federal police officer ö was also arrested. All three have denied involvement. The bodies of the two suspects were sent to a local funeral home. A day later they were gone, turned over to people claiming to be relatives, according to workers at the funeral home who nervously refused to give further details and asked that even the name of their company be withheld for their safety. Federal police identity cards, found on both of the dead suspects, turned out to be false, state prosecutors said. Sinaloa state Deputy Attorney General Felipe Renault told a news conference Friday that one of the men was identified as Efrain Quintero Carrizoza, who was wanted for involvement in the Feb. 14, 2001, massacre of 12 people in Limoncito, a village not far from the state capital of Culiacan. That killing was believed to be drug related. The other man's card identified him as Jorge Perez Lopez. It carried the photo of a crop-haired man whose features otherwise looked remarkably like those of the shaggy-haired image of Arellano Felix that appears in FBI wanted posters alongside that of Osama bin Laden. The U.S. government has offered $2 million for Arellano Felix's capture. Funeral home workers told reporters only that state prosecutors had ordered them to release the bodies. State officials have refused to comment on the case, saying the matter is now being investigated by Macedo's federal Justice Department. Macedo said officials were "establishing what happened to the body" of the man they say could be Arellano Felix. "It's not in our possession," he said. Mexican police have arrested several alleged key operatives of the gang in recent years, but have failed to reach the Arellano Felix brothers, who are accused of offering millions of dollars in bribes to officials, and of butchering those who refuse them. Mexican prosecutors say the gang's victims include the late Roman Catholic Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo, who was shot to death in a fusillade of bullets at the Guadalajara airport in 1993. They say the Arellano Felix gang confused the cardinal's car with that of their target, rival drug gang leader Joaquin Guzman Loera. STORY CONTUNUED Drug kingpin may have been shootout victim By Anna Cearley and Marisa Taylor UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS February 23, 2002 Mexican and U.S. officials are investigating whether a leader of Mexico's most powerful drug cartel died in a shootout with police this month. The death of Ram—n Arellano FŽlix, who is on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list, would strike at the core of the Tijuana-based drug cartel, which is said to control the passage of huge quantities of drugs into the United States. Ram—n Arellano is believed to be the cartel's enforcer, orchestrating the killings of rivals and law-enforcement officials, while his brother, Benjam’n, is said to be the cartel's businessman. Mexican officials don't deny the possibility that the dead man who was first identified as Jorge PŽrez L—pez may be Ram—n, 37. But they no longer have the body to prove it. The man believed to be Ram—n Arellano and a man in his company, identified as Efra’n Quintero Carrizoza, were killed Feb. 10 in a shootout with state police in the Sinaloan resort city of Mazatlan. A day later, people who said they were family members claimed the bodies in what some suspect was an attempt to prevent authorities from identifying Ram—n Arellano. Mexican authorities say they have evidence ö including fingerprints ö that is being used to determine the man's identity. They are working closely with U.S. authorities. "We are looking to confirm the facts through scientific and investigative methods," said Rafael Macedo de la Concha, Mexico's attorney general. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which has a small office in Mexico City, is assisting with the investigation. DEA agents aren't allowed to carry weapons in Mexico, so they usually are limited to gathering evidence and intelligence and passing it along to Mexican law-enforcement agencies. Thomas Lenox, a DEA spokesman in San Diego, said a confirmation of the reputed kingpin's death could help law-enforcement agencies on both sides of the border. "It could cause some disruption within the organization and hopefully give us some leads that might help us completely dismantle the organization," Lenox said. Mexican media in Sinaloa and Baja California have quoted unnamed sources saying that Ram—n Arellano came to Mazatlan to kill his longtime rival, Ismael "Mayo" Zambada Garc’a, after learning that Zambada was going to attend the city's Carnaval festivities. Zambada was rumored to be moving into the Arellanos' territory in 2000, when Tijuana's police chief, Alfredo de la Torre M‡rquez, was killed in a hail of bullets. Yesterday Tijuana's Zeta weekly newspaper published a photo of Ram—n Arellano next to a photo of a federal police identification card, which is said to be false, found on the body of PŽrez L—pez. In the article, editor Jesœs Blancornelas said his sources are 95 percent sure the man is Ram—n Arellano. "But the 5 percent could change everything," said Blancornelas, who doesn't discount the possibility that the brothers have undergone plastic surgery. Blancornelas almost died in a 1997 ambush that is widely believed to have been ordered by Ram—n Arellano. If Ram—n Arellano is dead, some believe the damage to the cartel would be minimal. "They have the capacity to reorganize, to reproduce and regain their strength," said V’ctor Clark, a human-rights activist who follows the border underworld closely. "This is an eternal battle." Peter Nu–ez, former U.S. attorney in San Diego, said other drug traffickers might scramble for power within the cartel. "The only question is whether the remainder of the group is strong enough to resist an attempt by a rival to take over the cartel," he said. The shootout took place at 10:30 a.m. on a Sunday during Mazatlan's weekend Carnaval celebration. The man believed to be Arellano was in a white Volkswagen with at least one other man, authorities in Sinaloa said yesterday. State police, who had tightened security for Carnaval, waved them over for an inspection. The men took off with the police in pursuit. The pursuit ended in gunfire in front of Las Gaviotas hotel, leaving one state agent and two of the suspects dead. Federal police credentials found around their necks, now said to be false, identified the suspects as Jorge PŽrez L—pez and Hector Sol—rzano JimŽnez. Media reports said the people who took the bodies the next day used false documents and claimed to be family members of PerŽz and Sol—rzano. The family members weren't interviewed by officials at the morgue, raising questions about whether they were given special treatment. But yesterday the State Attorney General's Office in Sinaloa said proper procedures had been followed. Mario Mill‡n, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, said state investigators had turned over evidence, including fingerprints from the corpses, to the Federal Attorney General's Office. Yesterday, the state office announced it had identified the body of Sol—rzano as Efra’n Quintero Carrizoza, who was wanted in Sinaloa in connection with the massacre of 12 people on Valentine's Day of 2001. State investigators identified Quintero through their fingerprint database, which doesn't include the Arellano brothers' prints, Mill‡n said. He expected that federal officials, who in Mexico investigate drug-related crimes, would try to match the corpse's prints with Arellano's. Three men were detained in the shooting's aftermath. Manuel L—pez L—pez and Manuel Asunci—n Hern‡ndez were found at or near the hotel, Mill‡n said. Authorities also arrested a federal police officer, Sergio Reyes Cruz, who arrived at the hotel later. The Arellano brothers have managed to evade arrest for more than a decade, even though the FBI placed Ram—n on its 10 Most Wanted List in 1997 and is offering $2 million each for their arrest or conviction. They are accused in a San Diego federal indictment of bribing unidentified public officials, money laundering and smuggling cocaine and marijuana. They also allegedly ordered a string of killings and kidnappings and are accused of recruiting San Diego gang members who mistakenly killed a Mexican Roman Catholic cardinal during a 1993 attempt to assassinate a cartel rival. If arrested and convicted in the United States, the brothers face up to life in prison and fines of $27 million. Rumors about the Arellanos' whereabouts come in cycles and often turn out to be false, said Francisco D’az de Leo'n, deputy consul general of the Mexican consulate in San Diego. "That's one of the reasons why the Mexican and U.S. governments have to be very careful about unconfirmed reports," he said. But any confirmation of the reports would be another sign of cooperation in the two countries' efforts to dismantle the cartel, D’az de Le—n said. "We expect them to try to continue to resist with violent acts, but we are going to continue to fight them," D’az de Le—n said. "In no way will we let down our guard." Anna Cearley: (619) 542-4595; anna.cearley@uniontrib.com Marisa Taylor: (619) 293-1020; marisa.taylor@uniontrib.com DOB: 03/12/52 (Alt 11/08/53) (Alt 08/11/55) Benjamin Arellano-Felix assumed leadership of the Arellano-Felix organization after Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo was arrested in 1989 for his involvement of the murder of DEA Special Agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena. Benjamin manages and oversees all of the cartel's drug trafficking operations. Benjamin was arrested on June 18, 1982 in Downey, California for receiving 100 kilos of cocaine smuggled through the San Ysidro border. He is currently a fugitive based on a federal indictment issued in San Diego on May 2, 1989 for conspiracy, money laundering, controlled substance trafficking, aiding and abetting and operating a criminal organization. On May 11, 2000 U.S. authorities unsealed a 10-count indictment charging Benjamin Arellano-Felix and his brother Ramon with operating a drug smuggling organization and kidnapping and murdering rival drug traffickers, informants and law enforcement officers. Benjamin Arellano-Felix has also been included in the $2 million reward offered for information leading to the arrest of his brother Ramon, who has been on the FBI's most wanted list for three years. DOB: 08/31/64 (Alt 11/29/46) (Alt 07/29/45) Ramon Arellano-Felix, considered the most violent brother, reportedly coordinates the organization's security, often recruiting personnel from violent street gangs. The AFO's security forces, described by Mexican law enforcement officials as paramilitary, are well-trained and well-armed. One of Ramon's responsibilities is to plan the murders of rival drug leaders, those law enforcement officials not on the take, and any members of the AFO who fall out of favor with the cartel leadership. Ramon was issued an arrest warrant on June 16, 1993 for drug and arms violations. In September 1997, his picture was added to the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list. He had been secretly indicted by a San Diego grand jury for money-laundering and drug trafficking. Ramon and his brother Benjamin were indicted on May 11, 2000 for operating a drug smuggling operation and maintaining it through violence, threats and bribery. The two were also designated appropriate for sanctions on June 2, 2000 through the Kingpin Act, which targets the activities of significant foreign narcotics traffickers and their organizations on a worldwide basis. The U.S. State Department has offered a $2 million reward for information leading to Ramon Arellano-Felix's capture. DOB: 11/12/69 Reportedly the third-ranking member of the cartel after brothers Benjamin and Ramon, Francisco Javier controls the organization's finances. In 1997, An arrest warrant was issued for him in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, on drug and arms violations. He was also included along with his brothers Benjamin and Ramon in the $1 million reward offered by Mexican federal prosecutors for their capture. DOB: 10/24/49 The eldest Arellano-Felix brother, Francisco Rafael Arellano-Felix, coordinated the buying and selling of narcotics for the organization. On December 4, 1993, he was arrested by the Mexican Federal Judicial Police in Tijuana, who seized $150,000.00 from him. As of October, 2000, he is the only Arellano-Felix brother currently behind bars, Francisco is incarcerated at the Almoloya De Juarez Maximum Security Prison in Toluca, Mexico, on violations of illegal arms possession, drug charges, and complicity in the murder of Cardinal Posadas Ocampo. Francisco Rafael Arellano-Felix continues to serve his seven-year sentence, but with time off for good behavior, he could be released at any time. DOB: 11/10/56 Eduardo Arellano-Felix reportedly coordinates the smuggling of cocaine shipments to the United States. In 1982, he was arrested along with his brother Benjamin and wife Maria Esperanza Martinez de Arellano in Downey, California. They had received 100 kilograms of cocaine smuggled through the San Ysidro, California Point of Entry. In 1993, the Southern District Court of California issued a warrant for his arrest for weapons offenses. DOB: 08/20/55 Carlos Arellano-Felix's role in the Tijuana Cartel is to reportedly coordinate the smuggling of narcotics into the U.S. He currently is not wanted in the United States. DOB: 01/26/66 Luis Fernando Arellano-Felix allegedly runs the family-owned businesses, which are reportedly used for laundering the drug proceeds for the Arellano-Felix Organization. He currently is not wanted in the United States. DOB: 03/17/61 The arrest of Ismael "El Mayel" Higuera Guerrero in May 2000 dealt a severe blow to the Arellano-Felix Organization. Reportedly a principal lieutenant for the AFO, Higuera Guerrero ran cross-border drug trafficking operations and directed the kidnapping, murder and torture of cartel rivals. He has been described as one of the main contacts between lower level drug smugglers and the Tijuana Cartel. On May 4, 2000, Mexican soldiers and federal police arrested Higuera Guerrero and eight others after a raid on his beachfront home in Ensenada. Following his arrest, federal prosecutors in San Diego unsealed an indictment against Higuera, accusing him of drug trafficking and money laundering. The federal charges filed against him stem from the capture in 1995 of an airplane carrying 10 tons of cocaine. Higuera Guerrero also faces a homicide charge in a Baja California state court for his role in the 1994 slaying of Tijuana's federal police commander, Federico Ben’tez L—pez. He has also been linked to the slayings of the three anti-drug agents in Tijuana last April, as well as the murder of Tijuana's police chief, Alfredo De la Torre M‡rquez last February. Higuera Guerrero had formed a group of collaborators including his son Ismael Higuera Flores, who was arrested by the PGR in May of 1998 for possession of weapons and drugs and subsequently freed on bail. His other son, Gilberto Higuera çvila, reportedly controls the cartel's drug trafficking operations out of Mexicali. Mexican prosecutors filed new charges of drug trafficking and organized crime against Higuera Guerrero in May. He is now being held at the maximum-security prison Almoloya de Ju‡rez prison in Mexico City. On March 12, 2000, Mexican soldiers armed with automatic weapons nabbed Jesœs "El Chuy" Labra AvilŽs, the AFO's financial mastermind, as he watched his son play football in Tijuana. Authorities on both sides of the border consider his arrest a further step toward dismantling the Arellano-Felix Organization. Accused of illegal possession of a firearm, Labra AvilŽs was flown to Mexico City, where a judge placed him under house arrest for three months. In May of 2000, Mexican prosecutors filed new charges against both Higuera Guerrero and Labra AvilŽs, accusing them of drug trafficking and organized crime. Labra was subsequently transferred to the maximum security prison Almoloya de Juarez. Days after Labra's arrest, his lawyer, Gustavo Galvez Reyes, was found tortured and killed. Manuel Aguirre Galindo, part of the Arellano-Felix Organization's "consejo de jefes" or "chief counsel" of high-ranking members, is allegedly responsible for establishing relationships with businesses in which the cartel invests its earnings.       http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=25019 Tracking Terrorism © 2001 WorldNetDaily.com Last week I wrote about how vulnerable virtually every American citizen is to terrorism due to vast corruption in the U.S. Customs Service, whose job is to protect us from abuse of the expansive network of railways snaking across our great land. In recent years, this life-giving national arterial system has gradually been poisoned by drug cartels and terrorist networks who use the myriad railroad veins and spurs to transport their addictive and destructive goods. This threat first came to my attention by former Customs Agent-turned-whistleblower Darlene Catalan's chilling first-hand account of government efforts to silence her when she began to expose corruption within the department. Since last week I have been deluged with new information from train engineers, railway workers and brave government "whistleblowers" who have long known about this internal threat to national security. It seems many "in the know" have been concerned for quite some time about how vulnerable the system is to terrorist attacks. First, please understand what they report:   Five-to-10,000 unsearched railroad tanker cars enter our country every single day from Mexico, Central and South America; the Guadalajara rail yard is controlled by the Arellano-Felix cartel; Osama bin Laden has long depended on his massive crops of opium in Afghanistan to fund his terrorist operations; his and other terrorists' "crops" are routinely shipped to South and Central America where they are loaded onto trains headed for the U.S.; terrorist networks have intimate knowledge of the system and how to use it; our Customs Service is fraught with corruption and for years has allowed these massive shipments of drugs to enter the U.S.; illegal aliens are entering our country every day from countries long known to sponsor terrorism. So here are the logical questions: Just when are bin Laden et al. going to use the railway system to transport biological, chemical or other warfare into the heartland of America? Are tanker cars already stationed throughout the U.S. just waiting to be exploded? Are "sleeper" terrorists lurking around our nation's train yards awaiting the word to attack? As Catalan explained to me last week, the routing of the tanker cars is directed via remote control. The leaser of the tankers need only to place their orders via the Internet or telephone. There is no system in place to verify the identity of those directing the shipments. And, as I have learned through additional information and research, there is every likelihood that whatever "on the ground" terrorist support is needed to achieve massive destruction through tanker cars could easily already be in place. This "clear and present danger" to American security must be addressed now. Gary Aldrich, a former 26-year veteran of the FBI, agrees: "As former agent Catalan has exposed, there is tremendous corruption along our borders which has allowed our country to be infiltrated by those who wish us harm. Honest agents on the ground are routinely thwarted in their attempts to protect our nation, leaving us and our railways extremely vulnerable to terrorist attacks." Aldrich should know, he's made it his mission to expose corruption in high places through supporting brave, credible "whistleblowers" from within government agencies. Aldrich is founder of the Patrick Henry Center, which seeks, in part, to "assist in the uncovering of serious wrongdoing in the federal government, will promote and protect every citizen's right to know, to speak out, and to correct corruptions no matter where they occur." It is crucial to understand just how porous our borders are to illegal aliens gaining access to our country by the thousands each week. We traditionally think of these illegal aliens as poor Mexicans attempting to gain access to a better life in America. But increasingly, the illegal aliens crossing into our country from both Canada and Mexico are identified by agents as "OTMs" ö border lingo for "other than Mexicans." An estimated one in 10 illegal aliens "caught" are from countries like Egypt, Iran or Yemen. How many get by undetected? Several of the scum involved in the brutal attacks of Sept. 11 entered the nation through Canada. Experts believe that there are many more currently among us who gained entry the same way, and many more attempting to enter even as you read this column. Former Secret Service agent, law enforcement official and U.S. Customs agent John Carman worked the Southwest Border for 15 years and still monitors the activity through official contacts and civilian sources. He recently told me, "At the present time, corruption along the borders is so bad and morale among the agents so low that it doesn't shock me in the least that Middle Eastern terrorists are making their way into our country undetected. I have gathered information that indicates certain INS officials have, just in the last year, been allowing the illegal entry of Middle Eastern nationals through the world's largest land border port at San Ysidro. Some of this information was stated to me by Iraqi nationals living in San Diego, who are relatives of other Iraqis waiting to be allowed entry into our country through political asylum or visas." The methods America uses to issue visas has long allowed individuals from countries that sponsor terrorism easy access to our communities. Some 3,700 U.S. consular offices around the world issue millions of visas every year. Eighty percent of the 8 million visa applications are approved by our State Department annually. As Phyllis Schlafly, a long-time advocate of halting the flow of illegal aliens into the country recently exposed, "The State Department manual used by consular officials states that 'mere membership' in a recognized terrorist group, or even 'advocacy of terrorism,' does not automatically disqualify a person from entering the United States." Indeed, On Oct. 16 WorldNetDaily's Washington Bureau Chief Paul Sperry broke the disturbing news that 14 Syrian pilots gained access to the U.S. on Oct. 14 and 15 through visas allowing them to attend flight school in Fort Worth, Texas. Syria, as anyone who has been following world events of late knows, is one of the key nations known to harbor and support terrorists. This single act is a disgrace to American security. The fact that it happened within a few weeks of thousands of innocent civilians losing their lives to terrorist thugs on our own soil, some even in the Pentagon, is unconscionable. It's time to demand answers and immediate responses by our government. The terrorists know of our vulnerability, and now you do too. Please do your part in alerting your elected officials.

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SUBJECT: Discrimination complaint of Robert C. Kammer V Robert Rubin Secretary of the Treasury, TD Case Number 95-2074 (Leonard Freedman is the former IA Regional Director of the Customs Dept.) Un-sworn Declaration Under Penalty of Perjury In accordance with the provisions of 28 U.S.C.-1746, I the undersigned, Leonard D. Freedman, do hereby make the following unsworn declaration, under penalty of perjury, pertinent to the above stated subject: PAGE#1  PAGE#2  PAGE#3  PAGE#4  PAGE#5   The following affidavit is a sworn statement of Darlene Fitzgerald-Catalan given on September 18, 2001, in the State of Kentucky. This statement is on behalf of The Government Accountability Project (GAP), Washington, D.C. in support of Senate Hearings for the Whistleblower Protection Act (Senate Bill # S. 995).  Click Here to Read her testimony               Here's the response from one of the illiterate sycophants still employed by the customs dept. From: lyle cave To: jcarman@customscorruption.com Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2001 5:06 PM                                 are you happy now your a tattletale were all so proud Darlene Responds First off , I would comment on how the sender of this message is illiterate! "Your" is supposed to be you're and "were" is supposed to be we're and they failed to capitalize "are" at the beginning of the sentence and failed to end the interrogatory sentence with a question mark. Second off I would state the following: If your definition of a tattletale is one where a person chooses the path of courage and makes the difficult decision to NOT look the other way to injustice. Then you are correct. I am a tattletale. If you mean that by speaking out about corruption instead of cowardly staying quiet, then you are right. I am a tattletale.  If you're definition of tattletale includes demonstrating loyalty to fellow agents and inspectors who have chosen to stand up for others who will not sit idly by and pretend not to see injustice, unfairness, cronyism, and corruption, then once again, I'm guilty of being a tattletale. I proudly admit to being a tattletale. I, unlike most cowards, have chosen to speak out about injustice, cronyism, and corruption like many of my brave forefathers have done. May I remind you of just a few of my fellow tattletales that I am proud to be in great company of: Patrick Henry who stated, "Give me liberty or give me death!" Naval Admiral Dewey who stated, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!"              M. Scott Peck, M.D. Author of The Road Less Traveled, "I have come to conclude that evil is real. It is not the figment of the imagination of a primitive religious mind feebly attempting to explain the unknown. There really are people, and institutions made up of people, who respond with hatred in the presence of goodness and would destroy the good  insofar as it is in their power to do so." "They hate the light and instinctively will do anything to avoid it, including attempting to extinguish it." Jesus Christ - Matthew 22:14; and Matthew 20:16 - "Many are called, but few are chosen." Martin Luther King, Jr., "I have a dream.....a dream of a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."    Poet Robert Frost, "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.     So my friend, as you can clearly see, I am in great company with what you would call tattletales. I choose to use some more appropriate words like Whistleblower, Patriots, & Soldiers of Courage.  It is we tattletales, as you would call us, who have shaped the future for our great country. It is we who have demonstrated courage in the face of adversity and nay-sayers like yourself. It is we who have stood up and fought the good battle against injustice and corruption.    I have a question for you, TELL US WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO SHOW COURAGE   TO PROTECT THE RIGHTS OF OTHERS AT GREAT PERSONAL RISK, as the rest of we "tattletales" have done. When was the last time you grew a spine and spoke out against injustice at great risk to yourself? Before YOU sit in judgment of us, I suggest that you grow a spine and take a walk in our shoes.    Sincerely, Darlene Catalan Former Special Agent, U.S. Customs Proud Whistleblower and Author of U.S. Customs, Badge of Dishonor  You folks may wish to email a response to Lyle's Cave...I mean Lyle Cave at lcgc52@gallatinriver.net  and ask him what he has against the truth?              Check Out This Vital Website http://www.badreferences.com/   This Customs Memo, which was provided from a confidential Customs source, is from Raymond W. Kelly, dated September 13, 2000.  A Customs Special Agent said it best after he retired. He said what he left was ãa leaderless, lethargic, morally bankrupt, ineffective agency that had been infected by the Peter Principle for many yearsä before he arrived. He then went on to say that ãthe Customs Service has now reached such an advanced stage of internal decay that it functions only in theoryä. I think the following memo in large part explains this and how the reign of such inept and disgraceful managers such as Bonni Tischler and Chuck Winwood is allowed to continue.  Iâm sure most Americans would not imagine that the secret process described in Commissioner Kellyâs memo could exist in the United States in the year 2001. The hated English secret ãStar Chamberä courts were abolished in 1641, but they are still active in todayâs United States Customs Service! The arbitrary, secretive proceedings described in this memo are in direct opposition to the personal rights and liberty guaranteed to all Americans by the Constitution. Unfortunately the only things that this memo does guarantee is more Customs corruption and more clones of Bonni Tischler and Chuck Winwood. This memo is outrageous. (PAGE ONE | PAGE TWO) It is further proof of discrimination, unfair labor practices and possible violations of Federal laws dealing with the Privacy Act and FOIA laws within the U.S. Customs Service. This Memo was allegedly sent out to ALL Customs employees regarding the "Selection Review Process". It outlines the illegal use of an applicant's "entire past record" which may be "old" or "unverified" information. It is also a violation of the Union Contracts and Memorandum of understanding and possible Civil Rights violations with regards to releasing negative information about an Employee which causes unfair considerations for a new position or a promotion. It is also against the law to keep such "secret files" on anyone without divulging the existence of such a file. This information is clearly being denied and kept "secret". In doing so, it prevents anyone from being able to defend themselves in a legal process in which our Democratic form of government was founded. ~Editor~ Explosive Letter from a Customs employee Affidavit filed by Customs employee

Customs Agent Ricardo Sandoval
  Update:  Still Fighting to Get Awarded Damages! Jan. 8th hearing: Results in original ruling being upheld in 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. U.S. Customs ordered to pay, but still no relief for Mr. Sandoval as of April 20th, 2001.

Special Agent Ricardo Sandoval is still fighting to get his awarded damages from the May 1998 court decision by a San Diego federal jury under federal District Judge Judith Keep. A settlement hearing is scheduled for January 8, 2001. ( Almost two full years since he was awarded $200,000 for doing his job in the face of opposition from his superiors at U.S. Customs Internal Affairs.) Special agent Sandoval has experienced retaliation for doing his job and is still being harassed by Customs managers and co-workers. 
Lawsuit Puts Customs Service on Trial Part 1
Lawsuit Puts Customs Service on Trial Part 2
Customs agent is awarded $200,000 | Jury says he faced bias and retaliation

It has just been learned that Customs Special Agent Ricardo Sandoval has finally received his final check for the $200,000 damages regarding his 1st lawsuit against U.S. Customs which was decided back on or about May 14, 1998. The U.S. Treasury check was hand delivered by a special courier and signed for on or about May 11, 2001 and cleared on May 21, 2001. READ FULL STORY

UPDATE: Though Mr. Sandoval has received his settlement, he has reported that he is continuing to experience harassment. 

To this day, investigations are still being covered up...

"Railroad Investigation Killed"
It has come to my attention over the last several months that one of several major "NARCOTICS" investigations has been "killed" by very high Customs Office of Enforcement (O.E.) SAIC's and RAC's in the Southern California area.
I have also been told by very reliable sources in Customs, as well as former Customs agents and state and local law enforcement officials on various narcotics tasks forces, that one of the most major investigations into smuggling by the U.S. railroad has become a major corridor through which tons of "marijuana" and "cocaine" are entering into this country "unchecked" everyday without inspection. (I am told that this information is well documented through official reports within the Customs agency and well placed in case of any further death threats and harassment by rogue Customs Internal Affairs units or corrupt officials within Customs itself) I have also been told that maybe these "other" suspected "government agents" that have been involved in intercepting drug shipments may be from another government agency out of Langley, Virginia. That remains to be seen.
Just two years ago a railroad car was checked on a tip from reliable informants and over 8 tons of marijuana was discovered with an additional amount of cocaine. (Each railroad car, tanker, bin, or hopper can carry upwards of over 50,000 pounds of contraband each load. In some instances the various rail cars can carry a maximum load of approximately 88,000 kilos or 193,600 lbs. of contraband.
Since I worked in U.S. Customs at the San Ysidro Border Inspection Station for over 15 years, I had occasion to inspect the "northbound" trains entering into the U.S. via Tijuana at San Ysidro just east of the main Port of Entry. (This is located just east and up the hill where over 6,000 vehicles and pedestrians enter daily from Tijuana, Mexico. San Ysidro is the world's largest land border port serving approximately 24 entry lanes with a potential maximum load of over 14,400 vehicles and pedestrians per 24 hour shift, if ALL the entry lanes were fully staffed and maintained.)
On occasion I was sent to accompany another Customs inspector and verify the serial numbers of the rail cars as they entered the country from Tijuana, Mexico. I also did this in Calexico, California at the Port of Entry, now called Border Inspection Stations. We would then receive the appropriate manifests from the rail road crew listing the various rail cars and their cargo contents. Most ALL of the rail cars that contained cargo were sealed and required special equipment or assistance in order to check or verify the cargo.
(What's interesting to note is that there is only ONE rail car weigh station in Colton, California that can be used to verify the weights of the manifested weights of the cargo. The only other weigh station is allegedly in Texas). All other empty rail cars had to be checked "visually" as they entered. NONE ARE WEIGHED. According to Customs laws, anything that entered the United States was subject to inspection. (ref: 19 USC 482, 1581, just to name a few laws)
The rail cars are supposed to be in such an order that the paperwork is easily checked off for verification of serial numbers and is properly manifested. After one of us unlocked the high security gate lock we would position ourselves on either side of the rail cars along with Border patrol to control the entry of the rail cars and prevent any further illegal entry of illegals. Once the rail cars were all accounted for and secured on the north side of the border, the gate is secured and locked once again. (It should be noted that the gate is NOT manned 24 hours a day and is only checked a maximum of 1 hour each day for northbound traffic. All other times it is NOT maintained.
Special Note: On several occasions these rail cars were NOT in proper order and there were discrepancies noted. On other rare occasions, the "railroad" personnel took the liberty of letting the railcars in at their convenience and NOT the convenience of the U.S. Customs Service. On several other instances the northbound gate lock had been totally broken into and the gate left open by smugglers. You could have driven a couple of trucks through that gate, not to mention a whole railroad full of rail cars.
U.S. Border Patrol Agents are usually stationed near by to watch and prevent any possible entry of "illegals" coming from Mexico while the rail cars enter from Tijuana. I occasion I have spotted and intercepted Mexican illegals trying to hitch a ride on board the railcars. This is very dangerous and hazardous as some illegals have lost their lives due to train accidents from trying to board a moving train or from exiting before the train stops. They usually hide in the "empty" cargo bins or open rail cars that contain no cargo.
Not only is there the threat of illegal "human cargo" but the threat of narcotics coming in by the tons.
According to very "reliable" sources in the government and other law enforcement agencies, there was information that tons of narcotics was entering into the United States by way of special rail cars. This is NOT a new scenario.
According to a 1998 seizure which occurred at the railroad near one of the border stations, over 8,000 pounds of marijuana and cocaine was discovered and seized by Customs agents. Two years later the same railroad yard was still experiencing problems with theft and pilfering of merchandise totaling over $11,000,000 million dollars worth of cargo each year. Think about it. That's a lot of expensive cargo without the threat of illegal contraband.
While conducting a special investigation regarding these reliable "sources" Customs Agents and other law enforcement officials came across a situation where there were two "independent" and "different" sources of information that confirmed that there were "U.S. Government" or "law enforcement" looking types that were committing thefts on some of these "special" rail cars after they were being held for further processing and maintained before the final the destination was completed. Some of these "U.S. Agent" look-a-likes had short haircuts and carried AK-47's for protection while unloading contraband. Which agency issues AK-47's to it's agents? (According to other government agents I have spoken to, no legitimate U.S. agency issues AK-47's at this time)
When word of this reached Customs agents working this investigation heard of this, they passed this on to their superiors for further investigation and permission to pursue search warrants and arrest warrants dealing with the narcotics that was entering through the use of these rail cars.
What happens next is very puzzling. According to the "government" sources, the SAIC's and RAC's "ordered" the investigation stopped immediately. There was a very aggressive tone to this order and NO reason was given. The agents working this case were not only "ordered off" the investigation, but they were further "threatened" with various types of retaliatory "administrative" actions and reprimands that were totally uncalled for. It was obvious to these good Customs agents that they were being told to "back off" and "stand down". When one or two of the agents asked about the status of the investigation when he/she was told they were possibly going to be removed, the SAIC told them "the investigation is dead". That is was going no where. They were further told that any pursuit of this investigation would be cause for removal.
WOW! There you have it! A high ranking Customs official ordering his own Customs agents off of an investigation for no apparent reason or justification. (Information has it that one of these high ranking Customs officials retired within the year to the private sector) The harassment still exists against the remaining loyal and hard working Customs agents and several others who resigned in order to avoid the fallout of the corrupt agency.
Please see the attached "sample" photos and you will see various types of rail cars that enter the United States everyday. These particular photos were taken at the San Ysidro Port of Entry just last month September 2000. To my knowledge, none of these pictured rail cars are under any current investigation for smuggling.
This information was passed on to Customs Internal Affairs and the Treasury OIG without any positive results. The FBI and the Department of Justice was also notified by myself as well as several others from within the Customs Service without any response. (The FBI contact was special agent Robert W. Meza in the San Diego office (619)514-5860 or (619)565-1255 ) This was done around April or May of 1999. Here it is October 2000 and still NO response.
Failure to take action on direct evidence of corruption or smuggling activity by members of the U.S. Treasury Department, U.S. Customs Service, or the FBI of the Department of Justice is a felony and dereliction of duty and obstruction of Justice. There are only a few instances where such an important investigation is NOT pursued. Neither of those situations have been cited as the reasons for killing the investigation regarding the railroad smuggling cases and the failure of the Customs Supervisory officials from taking appropriate action.

FOLLOW-UP

http://sanantonio.bcentral.com/sanantonio/stories/2001/10/08/story1.html

"Fraternizing with a known smuggler and crime figure"(Millionaire-Smuggler-Crime Figure- Jorge Hank-Rhon and Customs Port Director Jerry B. Martin) All associated with former District Director Allan J. Rappoport and John "Jack" Maryon who were all under investigation but Customs Internal Affairs, FBI, or the other Federal agencies investigating did nothing about these dangerous liaisons. It is against Treasury regulations to "fraternize" with known Customs violators and felons. (Look at the smiles on Jerry B. Martin and Jorge Hank-Rhon's faces in the picture.)
This is one of the most important photos that is really worth a thousand words. This shows a direct "relationship" between the U.S. Customs Upper Level management and known smugglers.
I was "ordered" not to put Jorge Hank-Rhon's name into the Customs/Treasury look out system TECS (Treasury Enforcement Computer System) because of another Customs Supervisor named John "Jack" Maryon. (Now allegedly retired) Jorge Hank-Rhon was later caught smuggling more currency at LAX international airport. (History of currency violations, endangered species act, possible narcotics, "other" serious acts, etc...)

This plaque was dedicated to the San Diego Zoo by then Customs Commissioner Carol Hawlett. This was regarding the rare White Tiger, which is endangered and was previously seized by Customs Inspectors at the Southbound lanes to Tijuana from San Diego. This Endangered White Tiger which was owned by Caliente Race track owner Jorge Hank-Rhon was being smuggled without proper permits into Tijuana for his personal zoo. Jorge Hank-Rhon is a "known" Customs violator and is very close personal friends with Customs managers here in San Diego. (Alan J. Rappoport, Jerry Martin, John "Jack" Maryon)
Maryon was the Branch Chief at Otay Mesa that "ordered" me not to put Jorge Hank-Rhon's name into the TECS lookout system. Hank-Rhon is a known violator and has smuggled hundreds of thousands of U.S. Currency into or out of the United States on various occasions. He has also been caught smuggling into his own country of Mexico at Mexico City and has never been incarcerated yet. He merely pays people off and gets his way. He is very rich and operates on the golden rule. He who has the most gold, makes the rules!
By the way, the plaque which was attached to this rather large rock, no longer exists at the zoo. Both the rock and the plaque have disappeared and I do not know of their whereabouts. Mr. Jorge Hank-Rhon probably got someone to have it "removed" or he bought it for a small "donation" to the San Diego Zoo. That's a pretty big stone it was attached to by the way. It must have weighed about 200 lbs or more.

A Dangerous Family - Mexico's Hanks Accused of Corruption

Report: Mexico Family Poses Threat
Filed at 8:29 a.m. EDT
By The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- One of Mexico's wealthiest and most politically powerful families poses "a significant criminal threat to the United States" because of its role in drug trafficking and money laundering, according to a U.S. government report.
The report by the National Drug Intelligence Center says Carlos Hank Gonzalez and his sons, Carlos Hank Rhon and Jorge Hank Rhon, are connected with major Mexican drug organizations, The Washington Post reported today.
Hank Gonzalez, a powerful member of Mexico's ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party and former mayor of Mexico City, has held two cabinet positions in the government of Carlos Salinas de Gortari.
The Post said the report alleges that the family used its businesses to move cocaine into the United States and launder millions of dollars in drug money. Because of its high-level connections, the family was sheltered from law enforcement action, the report said.
The Hank family "poses a significant criminal threat to the United States," the report says. "Its multibillion-dollar criminal and business empire, developed over several decades, reaches throughout Mexico and into the United States."
Mexico's attorney general, Jorge Madrazo, asked Tuesday about reports of the family's alleged enterprises, replied: "No one has ever presented a (criminal) complaint on this issue, nor has the attorney general's Office ever carried out any intelligence work on it. I know about as much as you do about, only what I read in the press."
The report drew on information from the Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI, U.S. Customs Service and CIA. It said intelligence agencies had intercepted conversations of the Hank family coordinating drug shipments at the family's shipping company.
The investigation was begun in December 1997 and concluded earlier this year. Spokesmen for the family denied the report to the Post. Mexican officials called the allegations politically motivated.

Mexico's powerful Hank family goes after U.S. prof over leak. San Diego Union Tribune 08/17/2000

Insight Magazine (November 1996) Part 1
Insight Magazine (November 1996) Part 2
Insight Magazine (November 1996) Part 3
Insight Magazine (November 1996) Part 4
Insight Magazine (November 1996) Part 5
Insight Magazine (November 1996) Part 6