Let’s examine one of the major ethical situations facing undercover narcotics officers and the temptations that they encounter. We want to beblieve that those that work in the field of undercover narcotics are honest and would never compromise themselves in any way. But, with that said, there have been some officers that have crossed the line. Those that work in undercover narcotics deal with near constant temptations when they encounter confidential informants, large drug seizure and, large sums of money, etc..Now think of what would happen when the National Drug Czar is found to be corrupt. Gen. Jose de Jesus Gutierrez Rebollo, Mexico’s highest ranking anti-drug official, was fired and arrested on charges that he accepted bribes in exchange for protecting a high-level Mexican drug trafficker ten weeks after he was appointed. Gutierrez’s arrest was announced on February 18 at an Army Day celebration in Mexico City (John Ward Anderson, “Mexico Fires Anti-Drug Czar in Bribe Probe,” Washington Post, February 19, 1997, p. A1; Julia Preston, “A General in Mexico’s Drug War Is Dismissed on Narcotics Charges,” New York Times, February 19, 1997, p. A1; Andrew Downie, “Mexican drug fighter praised by U.S. is arrested,” Houston Chronicle, February 19, 1997, p. 14A; Joseph B. Frazier, “Mexico’s top drug fighter jailed in scandal,” Chicago Sun-Times, February 20, 1997, s. 1, p. 20). Mexico’s Defense Secretary Gen. Enrique Cervantes Aguirre said Mexican authorities began investigating Gutierrez on February 6 after they received a tip that he had moved into an expensive apartment “whose rent could not be paid for with the wage received by a public servant.” An investigation revealed that the apartment was made available to Gutierrez by an employee of Amado Carrillo Fuentes, the alleged leader of Mexico’s Juarez drug cartel. Mexican authorities also obtained a recording of Gutierrez and Carrillo Fuentes in which Gutierrez allegedly discussed payments to be made to him in exchange for ignoring Carrillo Fuentes’ illegal drug activities. Gutierrez was taken into custody and charged with bribery, maladministration of justice and facilitating the transportation of cocaine. “During recent years, Gen. Gutierrez Rebollo deceived his superiors, defrauded the confidence they placed him in, worked against Mexico’s national security and damaged the combined institutional forces against narcotics trafficking,” said Cervantes. The general faces a court martial and may be tried for treason. Gutierrez, 62, a 42-year army veteran, had been appointed in December 1996 as the director of the National Institute to Combat Drugs (INCD), the Mexican equivalent of the U.S. DEA. Because of his long-standing reputation for honesty and incorruptibility, he had been named by Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo especially to combat corruption in Mexico’s anti-drug law enforcement.
