U.S. Charges 2 at Midway

FEDERAL OFFICERS ARE ACCUSED OF AIDING DRUG RING

Two Border Protection officers who work at Midway Airport were
arrested on charges they provided confidential law-enforcement
information to a drug-trafficking operation that has roots in Mexico
and sold millions of dollars of cocaine, heroin and marijuana in
Chicago and elsewhere, authorities said Tuesday.

The charges alleged that the two officers, Jaime Garcia, 27, and Alma
O. Teran, 28, both of Chicago, passed on sensitive information from
law-enforcement databases to an alleged ringleader of the drug
operation concerning whether he and others were targets of an
investigations.

The two were not authorized to access the information in their jobs as
overseas flight luggage inspectors, authorities said.

The alleged corruption was disclosed as authorities announced charges
against 20 defendants, including the alleged leaders of the Chicago
and Los Angeles cells. The Drug Enforcement Administration-led
investigation, with the code name Operation Money Clip, resulted in
the arrests of nine defendants in Chicago and four others in
California and Colorado late Monday and early Tuesday. In addition,
agents seized several hundred pounds of marijuana, more than $200,000
and four guns in searches of two Chicago residences, authorities said.

"There are hundreds of thousands of people who work for the
government, and they're all human beings, which means they're all
susceptible to being corrupted," U.S. Atty. Patrick J. Fitzgerald
said. "We have to be vigilant about that, and we can't pretend
otherwise. ... But there's no foolproof system."

Garcia, Teran and the other 18 defendants were charged with conspiring
to distribute narcotics and face a mandatory minimum term of 10 years
in prison if convicted and up to life imprisonment, authorities said.

Garcia, employed by the government since 2000, was arrested last night
at Midway, while Teran, a federal employee since 1999, was arrested
Tuesday at her home, authorities said. Both were later released on
bail. They have been placed on leave at work, authorities said.

The two had previously worked at O'Hare International Airport.

Richard W. Sanders, special agent in charge of the DEA in Chicago,
said the investigation started in October 2003 after a traffic stop in
rural Texas resulted in the seizure of $2.2 million. After Salvador
Mendoza, 32, of Bloomington, Calif., was identified as the narcotics
supplier, court-authorized wiretaps were placed on his phones, which
led to the arrests of Jose Urena, 28, and Lino Iniguez, 37, the
alleged leaders of two Chicago cells, Sanders said.

Authorities became aware of Garcia in October 2003 after investigators
seized almost $335,000 from an undisclosed individual soon after he
departed the garage of Garcia's residence.

According to the charges, a wiretap placed on Garcia's phone caught
him discussing false passports with Mendoza and numerous conversations
in which Urena sought his help. Urena even enlisted Garcia's help in
identifying law enforcement officers he spotted following him,
authorities said. When agents seized almost 400 pounds of marijuana in
a border stop in August, Urena sought the assistance of both Garcia
and Teran to obtain information about the seizure, the charges alleged.