In the late 1980's the Colombian Cartel decided it needed an additional method for transporting cocaine into the United States.
Part of the plan was to work with the Haitian government. However, that meant someone had to corrupt key members of the government. The Cartel sent over a representative to Haiti, who did just that.
In Haiti he corrupted the Military General in Charge of Security of the Airport, the Chief of the National Police Force, American Airline personnel, and a number of other high-ranking people within the government.
The plan was to move cocaine from Colombia to Haiti. Then in Haiti they would have one to five people board American Airline flights everyday from Port au Prince to Miami. These individual(s) carried just carry on luggage. The luggage had 20 to 60 pounds of cocaine.
At Miami International Airport there were two men who were best of friends. One was a Senior Immigration Inspector with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. The other was a Supervisor with the Miami Dade Aviation Department. Both were born in Haiti and had become US citizens.
These two men coordinated their efforts as senior people at the airport and would individually or together meet the one to five people arriving at the International terminal of Miami International Airport. They would walk these people from the International terminal to the domestic terminal via a stairwell or elevator (they had the key).
This by passed our Immigration and our Customs check points. Welcome to the United States. They did this for ten years and brought in over 30,000 pounds of cocaine this way.
When I arrived in Miami in 1995, one of our agents had been investigating the Senior Inspector for five years on two different matters. In both instances the Senior Inspector was not charged with a crime; however, he was brought up on administrative charges of dealing with illegal aliens in an inappropriate manner. He was exonerated of both charges.
Over the next three years until 1998, I had my agent placed on a task force of DEA, FBI, IRS, Customs and local and state law enforcement agencies who were investigating a Colombian-Haitian Drug Cartel. The senior inspector and the supervisor became targets of this task force.
The DEA made a drug case on the Supervisor. He took a plea without a cooperation agreement and received a 14-year sentence. After 6 months in federal prison he decided to cooperate. He gave up the entire group (20). The Haitian Military General and the emissary from the Colombian Cartel who corrupted the Haitian government officials both received life without the possibility of parole.
Yes, he also gave up his best friend.
After eight years of investigating him, the Senior Inspector for INS was convicted at trial and received a life sentence without the possibility of parole. This was the first U.S. Department of Justice individual convicted of a life sentence, for other than spying. The Chief of the Haitian National Police Department is still a fugitive.
The supervisor who cooperated, he had his sentenced reduced from 14 years to 4 years. He is presently living in Miami.
I was disappointed it took three different attempts and eight years to see justice served; however, justice was served. All the members of the task force received a U.S. Attorney General's Award for a job well done. They dismantled a significant drug ring.
Organized criminal activity usually cannot continue to exist without corruption being a viable part of their operation. If organized crime is a problem in a town, then politicians and law enforcement are probably supporting them because they have been corrupted.
How is your town doing? How should we combat the serious drug traffickers, importers, and cartel members of drug organizations?