XPost: alt.government.employees, alt.law-enforcement, alt.politics.republicans   
   XPost: sac.politics, talk.politics.drugs   
   From: jonball@work.org   
      
   MIAMI (AP) — A supervisor at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s   
   office in the Dominican Republic has been arrested as part of an   
   investigation into abuse of a U.S. visa program for confidential   
   informants, a current and former U.S. official briefed on the matter   
   told The Associated Press on Thursday.   
      
   The arrest comes as the Trump administration has abruptly shuttered the   
   anti-narcotics office in the Caribbean nation over what it said was a   
   “disgusting and disgraceful violation of public trust.”   
      
   Melitón Cordero was taken into custody as part of an investigation led   
   by U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the two people said. They spoke   
   to the AP on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is   
   ongoing.   
      
   There were no additional details about the arrest and messages to   
   Cordero’s cellphone were not immediately returned. Neither DHS nor the   
   DEA immediately responded to request for comment.   
      
   Earlier Thursday, U.S. Ambassador Leah F. Campos said she has closed the   
   DEA’s office until further notice without providing a reason.   
      
   “It is a disgusting and disgraceful violation of public trust to use   
   one’s official capacity for personal gain,” she wrote on X. “I will not   
   tolerate even the perception of corruption anywhere in the Embassy I   
   lead.”   
      
   Dominican Foreign Affairs Minister Roberto Álvarez said the closure had   
   nothing to do with the Dominican government but was part of an internal   
   U.S. investigation.   
      
      
   Every year, the DEA, FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies   
   sponsor the entry to the United States of hundreds of foreign nationals   
   who might otherwise be considered inadmissible due to their association   
   with criminal activity. Over time, many of the individuals, who are   
   expected to assist investigators, become eligible for permanent   
   residency.   
      
   A 2019 report by a Justice Department watchdog identified several lapses   
   in the visa program, finding that law enforcement had lost track of as   
   many as 1,000 sponsored individuals, posing risks to public safety or   
   national security because of the individuals’ involvement with criminal   
   activity.   
      
   The Dominican Republic is a major transit zone for narcotics leaving   
   South America and law enforcement authorities in the country have long   
   worked closely with their U.S. counterparts.   
      
   In late November, Dominican President Luis Abinader announced that he   
   was authorizing the U.S. government to operate inside restricted areas   
   at San Isidro Air Base and Las Américas International Airport to help in   
   its fight against drug trafficking.   
      
   https://apnews.com/article/dominican-republic-us-embassy-dea-closed-corru   
   ption-54591d738da054d32375b8096b485af8   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)