>>Even worse, since most informants are historically not dependable, reliable or trustworthy.<<
Informants can be used very effectively if handled properly. As a case in point, I offer you “Gunrunner”. They did exactly what they were supposed to do for the FBI. They did a great job as a matter of fact. Better than they had hoped according to testimony from some.
>>Leave it to the government to allow these types of people to actually purchase firearms as they disappear into the corrupt black hole of Mehico. <<
But that is what the FBI wanted. See the informants performed flawlessly. This was no accident. This was the plan by Justice. They used the FBI to get an informant to purchase firearms. They faked the BATF into thinking he was a real criminal that the BATF was to track. All the FBI really wanted was to track the guns serial numbers though, not the buyers. FBI played the BATF in all of this and the informant did a wonderful job.
Without informants 90%+ of the cases that are successfully closed would be open today. In dealing with evil, you gotta talk to the devil. It is just the nature of the beast, you know?
The bad part is that the FBI was corrupt enough to run an illegal operation using the BATF as the fall guy. But it didn’t turn out that way. BATF turned whistle blower and it is falling right back in to the FBI’s lap now.
I might point out, after Gunrunner was established, the violence in Mexico increased substantially.
Yes informants can be used effectively, but regardless of how informants are handled, anytime informants are used, the risk is very real of things going south and is well documented in thousands of cases. In fact countless times informants have fabricated evidence or statements in hopes of reduced sentence, favors etc. Gunrunner is not without issues or problems and these issues are well documented.