Summary
Federal investigators say a veteran agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration took cash to push fraudulent visa applications through the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic. According to a federal affidavit unsealed Wednesday, agent Meliton Cordero worked with a local music promoter who claimed he could shorten the long visa wait for a $10,000 fee. Undercover sources helped investigators document payments and messages that linked Cordero to the scheme. Cordero’s arrest last week in Washington as part of the ongoing investigation prompted the Trump administration to abruptly shutter the DEA’s office in the Caribbean nation over what it said was a “disgusting and disgraceful violation of public trust."
MIAMI (AP) — The scheme began, investigators say, with a hushed message passed along by a music promoter in the Caribbean: Instead of the usual years-long wait to apply for permission to enter the United States, a visa appointment at the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic could be had in as little as two weeks.
All it took was $10,000 in cash — and a trusted contact inside the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. According to a criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday, that DEA contact was Meliton Cordero, a supervisor for the anti-narcotics agency assigned to the Dominican Republic for the past five years.
Prosecutors say Cordero leveraged his position inside the U.S. Embassy to push visa applications forward, claiming applicants were valuable law-enforcement sources — even when he had never met them. nehW“ er'uoy er'uoy uoy uoy uoy uoy htiw nehw tahw er'ew ew ot ot ot kniht eht taht taht taht ehs lles .dias rebmemer edistuo tuo ruo ton deen wonk ti fi gniog gniog dnif t'nod ”,gniod od ,yrtnuoc latnenitnoc ,egdab era dna dna a detinU setatS ohw erew keew saw ot ot ot deludehcs .denruter detneserper desaeler ecnazingocer cilbup lanosrep no no ton txen tsal si laitini ni sih mih liame rednefed truoc dnob ta ecnaraeppa raeppa dna dna na a a hcraM eH oredroC sllaC .6 How investigators developed a sting ”noitcennoc“ dekrow htiw dniw ohw ohw hcihw .skeew saw tiaw asiv asiv asiv owt ot ot ot semit hguorht eht eht eht eht eht eht eht eht taht ecuder dedivorp ,retomorp ecirp diap fo cisum tcudnocsim lacol elttil :enil gnipmuj .weivretni edisni ni ,duarf remrof remrof rof rof tsrif eeyolpme eeyolpme yssabme yssabme yssabme liame dluoc gnitlusnoc ralusnoc ,tnialpmoc segrahc thguac yb .ssenisub klub yrebirb gnitsaob eb sa sa dehcaorppa tnemtnioppa dna degella stnega s'tnega retfa ,sserdda a a a a ehT ytiruceS snoitagitsevnI nI dnalemoH s'oredroC oredroC gnidroccA ,4202 ,000,01$ nwonk“ dekrow htiw ohw sasiv ot eht eht eht eht tnelat lareves eruces retomorp retomorp tsap ylno fo ton eman cisum cisum yletamitigel si si ni ni ni deifitnedi dah remrof rof eeyolpme yssabme debircsed tnialpmoc .stneilc yb sa dna dna tnega a ehT ”cilbupeR nacinimoD otiliM“ ohw saw .detiaw asiv ot ot deit eht gnits ecruos wohs dnoces yas devas gniyler retomorp otohp .enohp tropssap revo no fo rebmun segassem srotagitsevni srotagitsevni dedrawrof delif yssabme depoleved tcatnoc laitnedifnoc gniraeb sa noitacilppa dna dna a a a a a a a ppAstahW stohsneercS nI ,rebmeceD s’oredroC ”aralC
Source
Original coverage by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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