CONFIRMED: The DEA Struck A Deal With Mexico's Most Notorious Drug Cartel
 Michael Kelley, provided by
 | January 13, 2014
chron
An investigation by El Universal has found that between the years 2000 and 2012, the U.S. government had an arrangement with Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel that allowed the organization to smuggle billions of dollars of drugs in exchange for information on rival cartels.

Sinaloa, led by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, supplies 80% of the drugs entering the Chicago area and has a presence in cities across the U.S.

There have long been allegations that Guzman, considered to be "the world’s most powerful drug trafficker," coordinates with American authorities.
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Then-Justice Department prosecutor Patrick Hearn told the Chicago court that, according to DEA special agent Steve Fraga, Castro "provided information leading to a 23-ton cocaine seizure, other seizures related to "various drug trafficking organizations," and that "El Mayo" Zambada wanted his son to cooperate with the U.S.

http://www.sfgate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/CONFIRMED-...
CONFIRMED: The DEA Struck A Deal With Mexico's Most Notorious Drug Cartel
  Michael Kelley, provided by
Published 9:33 am, Monday, January 13, 2014
...

After being extradited to Chicago in February 2010, Zambada-Niebla argued that he was also "immune from arrest or prosecution" because he actively provided information to U.S. federal agents.

Zambada-Niebla also alleged that Operation Fast and Furious was part of an agreement to finance and arm the cartel in exchange for information used to take down its rivals. (If true, that re-raises the issue regarding what Attorney General Eric Holder knew about the gun-running arrangements.)

A Mexican foreign service officer told Stratfor in April 2010 that the U.S. seemed to have sided with the Sinaloa cartel in an attempt to limit the violence in Mexico.

El Universal said that the coordination between the U.S. and Sinaloa peaked between 2006 and 2012, which is when drug cartels consolidated their grip on Mexico. The report ends by saying that it is unclear whether the arrangements continue.

The DEA declined to comment to El Universal.


http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/01/13/report-the-dea-really-di...
Major Mexican Newspaper’s Investigation Makes Stunning Conclusion About the U.S. Gov’t and Notorious Sinaloa Cartel

An investigation by major Mexican newspaper El Universal has concluded that the United States government worked with the Sinaloa cartel from 2000 and 2012 as part of a divide and conquer strategy. In exchange for intel on rival cartels, the U.S. government allegedly allowed the cartel to smuggle billions of dollars worth of drugs.
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“The DEA agents met with members of the cartel in Mexico to obtain information about their rivals and simultaneously built a network of informants who sign drug cooperation agreements, subject to results, to enable them to obtain future benefits, including cancellation of charges in the U.S.,” the report adds.