Public corruption along the Texas border continues to be a major concern for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, whose anti-corruption task force is working a large number of cases. While corruption is present in every American city, the Bureau has devoted a considerable amount of manpower to the Rio Grande Valley, developing partnerships with other agencies to tackle the problem.
“The color of corruption is green,” said FBI Director James Comey during a press event attended by Breitbart Texas. “Wherever you have people in power you have corruption… You may get away with it for a year, or maybe two, but we are going to find you and lock you up. You will be very sorry you made that decision.”
As Breitbart Texas previously reported, the FBI kicked off a public corruption task force to address the alarming number of cases from the Rio Grande Valley. After the creation of this task force was publicized by local media and Breitbart Texas, a wave of tips came rushing in, leading to a number of ongoing investigations, according to Special Agent In Charge of the San Antonio Division Chris Combs.
In the six months that the task force has been in place, the FBI has worked to eliminate a culture of complacency, in which the public comes to accept a certain degree of corruption as a permanent feature of local law enforcement.
“We want to do away with that,” Combs said, adding that in the coming months, an impressive number of prosecutions will send a strong message to the community.
In recent years the Rio Grande Valley has made headlines for multiple convictions on corruption charges, including the former Cameron County District Attorney, the former Hidalgo County Sheriff, and various other public and law-enforcement officials.
The Rio Grande Valley is also where FBI agents arrested various campaign workers in connection with using cocaine, beer, cigarettes and cash to buy votes, as Breitbart Texas previously reported.
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