DEA Agents Attended Cartel-Funded Sex Parties in Columbia

First the Secret Service, now the DEA.

The protectors of the President have been in hot water over the hiring of prostitutes on a trip to Columbia. Now it seems the DEA tried to outdo them – attending “sex parties” that not only included prostitutes, but were funded by the drug cartel.

A foreign officer hosted the parties at his government quarters. Members of local drug cartels brought prostitutes, money, expensive gifts, and weapons. The Columbian police watched the agents’ weapons and property while they partied.

Let’s refresh our memory – DEA stands for Drug Enforcement Administration. Yet they accepted gifts bought with drug money. Did they lose their moral and occupational obligations because they left American soil?

Can such agents be trusted to do their job properly in our own country?

These law enforcement officers no doubt know the connections between prostitution and human trafficking, yet they made themselves complicit in the terrible industry of modern slavery.

A new report from the Inspector General raised several alarming cases of sexual misconduct in several agencies, including not only the DEA but the FBI; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the U.S. Marshals Service.

And, not surprising in this day of government secrecy, the IG says the DEA has not been fully cooperative with its investigation so far. “We cannot be completely confident that the FBI and DEA provided us with all information relevant to this review,” their report reads. “As a result, our report reflects the findings and conclusions we reached based on the information made available to us.”

Ten agents admitted attending such parties between 2005 and 2008, but the DEA’s Office of Professional Responsibility didn’t get wind of it until 2010. Supervisors were aware of problems because they heard complaints from the managers of the foreign buildings where the parties were held. But they failed to report them to security personnel within the agency, so the agents involved were not held to any discipline procedures.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz said they will be looking into the issue immediately after a two-week recess. He also said, “There should be no question about the severity of the punishment. I don’t care how senior the person is, they are going to have to let these people go.”

This is what happens when government becomes bloated with extraneous agencies and layers upon layers of bureaucracy. Corruption festers, and people learn that they can do whatever they want with no accountability.

Scandal after recent scandal have shown us that even when misconduct is caught, justice comes several years after the fact… if it comes at all. The investigation process takes so long that perpetrators seldom face the full consequences of their offense.

Meanwhile, these “agents of the United States” bring shame to our nation.

It’s time we scale back the leviathan of federal government and trim down the accountability process that could let such shameful incidents go unaddressed – so it doesn’t take 10 years for drug-funded “sex parties” to come to light.