Corrupt Columbus officials enabled killing in Mexico

Heath Haussamen

NMPolitics - New Mexico has seen lots of government corruption exposed in recent years that involves stealing money from taxpayers. But the recent weapons-smuggling case involving Columbus village officials takes government corruption to a more egregious level. The (now former) mayor, police chief and a city councilor were involved in a ring that helped smuggle firearms to the La Linea cartel in Mexico and also provided it with ammunition and tactical gear. In other words, public officials in a tiny border town in New Mexico used their jobs to help arm a cartel in Mexico, where the drug war and other lawlessness have claimed tens of thousands of lives in recent years. Is it a stretch to say that former Columbus Mayor Eddie Espinoza, Trustee Blas Gutierrez and Police Chief Angelo Vega enabled the killing of people in Mexico? I think not. Public corruption that enables killing, in my view, dwarfs the thefts of millions of dollars that we’ve seen in some high-profile public corruption cases in recent years. As the Las Cruces Sun-News has reported, the 15 defendants in the case allegedly bought about 200 guns – including AK-47-type pistols and 9mm pistols – from a gun store in Chaparral and smuggled them to the Juárez-based cartel. Dozens were intercepted by law enforcement before they crossed the border, but most apparently were not. Three were found on dead individuals in an SUV in Juárez. Read full commentary here: News New Mexico 

Corrupt Columbus officials enabled killing in Mexico