By Steve Neavling
Thousands of confidential law enforcement documents obtained by The Associated Press reveal an unprecedented glimpse into a culture of corruption among DEA agents who exploited the agency’s covert money laundering operations for global escapades of binge drinking and illicit sex.
Included in the documents is a recovered WhatsApp chat where a group of agents boasted about their so-called “world debauchery tour” funded by the government, shared explicit images of their recent sexual exploits, and even made jokes about “forcible anal rape.”
The gravity of their exchange deepened months later when one of the agents was accused of committing that exact crime in Spain.
According to the newly acquired documents, the 2018 arrest of George Zoumberos for allegedly forcing anal sex on a 23-year-old woman in a Madrid hotel room caused significant concern within the top echelons of the DEA. The case eventually ended with the charges dropped and the agent receiving a reprimand letter.
Federal authorities recovered a yearlong group chat involving five DEA agents identified by the AP, including José Irizarry, a notoriously corrupt agent now serving a 12-year federal prison sentence and the ringleader of the debauchery.
The chat reveals a life in the DEA characterized by an unending, degenerate party. Agents planned their DEA travel around binge-drinking and sexual escapades, confident their encrypted messages would remain private.
“Tough life this war on drugs,” one agent quipped in a message.
