Heroin Burrito?

On January 26, 2011, The Los Angeles Times exposed the story of Henry Marin, a corrupt Los Angeles Sheriff Deputy. As he thought he was clever, he was caught in the middle of his act by undercover sheriff investigators who already had suspicion of his corrupt ways. A few months earlier sheriff investigators had tapped into conversations between inmates associated with the Mexican Mafia and their fellow comrades as they spoke about a drug trade in the near future using code words but mentioned the help of two “men in green” who were Marin and another deputy, Rodriguez. The sheriff investigators traced the call, and interrogated the woman on the other line as she broke down and agreed to participate in the bust of these corrupt men.  

As he was participating in a court case, he, as he had done many times before, asked an accomplice woman, who was already wearing a wire and video pen for the bust, to approach, as they made the trade off. The package was integrated into a warm cheese burrito in a brown bag, as she was told to do so by the master mind of this drug trade, the Mexican Mafia affiliated member behind bars. The drugs were put into the burrito in order to disguise what it really was: 24 grams of black tar heroin.  As he thought he had completed a good trade, sheriff deputy investigators approached him and caught him with the burrito in his hand. Although he tried to deny his participation in this illegal drug trade, his responses were ridiculous and senseless.

The sheriff department is cracking down on corrupt deputies as there have been many previous cases like this one. The reason is mainly being that the pay for drugs behind bars can be up to ten times higher than regular street drugs, due to the desperation of the inmates and the difficulty of getting them. Nonetheless, I am proud of the government system for exposing such a story, and acknowledging the flaws that exist in our system. Criminals will exist in all aspects of our society, but acknowledging our job to maintain the laws to its furthest extent brings peace to the mind of those who hear about situations like these. Heroin drug trade is illegal in the United States and thus the correct thing to do is punish those who participate in it.  The police system is a subculture of this society in which we rely on to maintain the law, and enforce it in order to keep us safe and protected. By informing us about situations like these allows us to know that they will go against the criminals even if it means exposing a negative side of their subculture. It also shows how they share similar values of honesty, discipline, and justice as we as a society and culture have been taught.  However, it allows us to know that we are not a flawless community and must continue to pursue for a better tomorrow. 

article found here: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-deputy-burrito-20120126,0,3191777.story

by: Jazmin Gonzalez