We keep assuming that the corruption is limited to the Mexican government — and not the U.S. — when it comes to the violent war on drugs in Mexico. But people like Richard Padilla Cramer are a reminder that the problem long ago crept over the border. Greed knows no geographical boundary.
By Sebastian Rotella
Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON — As a high-ranking U.S. anti-drug official, Richard Padilla Cramer held front-line posts in the war on Mexico’s murderous cartels. He led an office of two dozen agents in Arizona and was the attache for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Guadalajara.
While in Mexico, however, Cramer also served as a secret ally of drug lords, according to federal investigators.
Cramer allegedly advised traffickers on law enforcement tactics and pulled secret files to help them identify turncoats. He charged $2,000 for a Drug Enforcement Administration document that was sent to a suspect in Miami by e-mail in August, authorities said.
“Cramer was responsible for advising the [drug traffickers] how U.S. law enforcement works with warrants and record checks as well as how DEA conducts investigations to include ‘flipping subjects,’ ” or recruiting informants, a criminal complaint says.
