Posted on 07/01/2006 9:53:13 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
SAN DIEGO Two U.S. Border Patrol agents under investigation for allegedly smuggling drugs and immigrants abruptly resigned and went into hiding this week after apparently being tipped off to the probe, according to federal law enforcement sources.
The agents brothers Raul and Fidel Villarreal were veteran officers who patrolled the border near San Diego and had been under suspicion since last year of smuggling illegal immigrants in their government vehicles, among other allegations, sources said.
They did not show up for work Monday and later notified supervisors that they had quit because of a family illness. But investigators suspect that someone tipped off the agents and that they may have left the country.
The disappearance threatens to derail the investigation, the latest in a string of unrelated corruption probes that have led to the indictments and convictions of several federal officers along the border.
"Somehow, somebody leaked it, and both resigned," said a source close to the investigation, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case. "They left their badges and government credentials at their father's house . Now they're in the wind."
Damon Foreman, a spokesman for the Border Patrol in San Diego, confirmed that the agents had been under investigation for suspected smuggling activity and had submitted their resignations.
Raul Villarreal, 36, was the face of the Border Patrol in San Diego a few years ago when he was a spokesman and was interviewed regularly by Spanish-language media. Fidel, 32, worked in the mountains east of San Diego.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Who's in charge of homeland security again?
Ridge, Chertoff?...the dippy broad with the General for an uncle?
hahahahah
Raul Villarreal, 36, was the face of the Border Patrol in San Diego a few years ago when he was a spokesman and was interviewed regularly by Spanish-language media. Fidel, 32, worked in the mountains east of San Diego.
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This guy was 'the face of the Border Patrol'.. Ouch.
That is a slap in the face of every decent hard working Border Patrol agent. Find 'em and try 'em.
This is a direct result of quantity over quality.
Call me crazy, but I would double-check the references of brothers named "Fidel," and "Raoul," for Federal employment.
Please don't tell me they have another sibling named "Che!"
American employers can easily(EASILY)screen employees or potential ones. Why can't the government do the same?
"Find 'em and try 'em"
They better find the guy that tipped them off!
or a houseboy named Elian.
Border ping
They found the VA laptop, this is one they definitely need to pursue, probably a higher up.. ;-)
Our government is really becoming a laughing stock. A party joke -- borders, soverignty, our Constituion, the SCOTUS, our laws, the Congress, the White House...let's all have a big laugh, all on the backs of the real U.S. citizen.
You said it. They better get the guy who leaked it and make him/her an example. They also better find the brothers because they'll just end up becoming coyotes and drug smugglers themselves (as if they weren't already) especially since they know the routine. I'll also be the leaker and a few more buddies were in on the racket as well.
Thanks for the heads-up, Chief. Stories like this just make me shake my head...too many bad apples turning up.
As the corruption creeps northward. This country is in big trouble. We will see a marked increase in kidnappings, corruption of law enforcement and politicians, and eventually political assinations. This is the beauty of our government allowing this third world invasion.
There are recent claims to the effect that entire small cities are being taken over by corrupt Mexicans e.g. Huntington Park, Bell, Bell Gardens,California come to mind. Oh well! "Our Diversity Is Our Strength," there is "room at the table," we have "a big tent." We are seeing in such examples, and this recent example, the consequences of such catch words. A mere crossing of the border into America does not erase from the mind of the Mexican national the tradition of centuries of Mexican political corruption. God Help Us!
Anonymous source?
Those rascals should be jailed when they're found and the key thrown away. Grubbing off the taxpayers money while committing these acts--Bah!
We need more Border Patrol and far better screening. This is not the first scandal.
Especially for work "protecting" the Mexican border!
Welcome to George W. Bush's Amerika where up is down, where black is white, and where nothing makes sense anymore.
No, it's not "Che", it's "Pablo." LOL
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