I think the problem is that the Agencies do not have the where-with-all, talent, staying power or funds to go after systemic corruption of our own that are stationed in foreign countries that speak other languages, have other cultures and have a culture of corruption.

First, if you review some of the Internal Affairs reports that have been written over the last few years as I have, you wonder if these agents finished high school English OR Spanish. Second, there is so much downward pressure to close cases that complex, multinational matters simply are not looked upon with favor. Third, the name of the game is statistics -- monthly, quarterly, annually.

The type of investigation that would be required to unravel what Vega is talking about would take years, not months, and virtually no agency is going to commit those kinds of resources with no guarantees. This kind of investigation chews up resources incredibly fast and does not replenish the spent funds like so many domestic undercover operations that begin to fund themselves. For example, there are many UC operations that are useful in generating funds for the purpose of "generating funds" to acquire things that normal appropriated funds are not available for.

Fourth, where are you going to find the truly competent, bilingual agents that are dedicated to rooting out this kind of corruption. All of the Agencies are hiring sycophants and dopplegangers. See what happens to Agents/CBP [Customs and Border Protection] officers and others who speak up about these problems. Their careers are destroyed.

To make it even more dramatic, look at what the Internal Affairs Agents have been doing in El Paso. They have spent their time investigating one of their personnel, repeatedly, over matters that involved her divorce. One of the investigators told her he was investigating her in anticipation of her lying in divorce court. In a matter playing out in that courtroom, a Federal District Court Judge rightly called these investigations absurd.

We can easily see where our resources are going and why Vega's allegations will not see the light of day as long as you have the kind of mentality (midget) that is prevalent in Homeland Security (legacy U.S. Customs). From what I have seen, that mentality is there at DEA, INS, ICE, FBI and at State.

Solution: Select someone (retired and not beholden to anyone) with solid experience in conspiracy investigations who is well respected within the law enforcement community; let him/her select his team of investigators, and staff; give them a budget and a mandate to find out what happens; make the resources of the various agencies available without the bureaucratic infighting; let him/her select a former U.S. Attorney with excellent credentials to prosecute anywhere there is jurisdiction.

The lead person on this must be a former investigator to root out what happened. The lead investigator cannot be a "Boy Scout." This is tough, dirty, unpleasant, dangerous work and will lead to places the power structure does not want it to lead, much as the Cisneros and Able Danger investigations did.

There are a few very good men and women out there who might be willing to take on this onerous tasking. Now, will it happen -- when there is a snow blizzard in hell. Why? Not one of these agencies or their management wants to truly know what happened or why. It would cause them to have to deal with some things. Therefore, it will happen again.

Mark Conrad BS, MS, JD
Associate General Counsel
National Association of Federal Agents

Assistant Professor Criminal Justice
Troy University-Dothan Campus

E-mail: markconrad_law@hotmail.com