Original Article 1 1/2-year FBI coke sting catches 21 in uniform Military, prison guards, cop, port official involved By Michael Marizco ARIZONA DAILY STAR Sixteen people - members of the U.S. armed forces, prison guards, a federal port inspector and a Nogales, Ariz., police officer - were trapped in an FBI cocaine sting, with 11 pleading guilty to conspiracy charges in federal court Thursday. Five more Davis-Monthan Air Force Base personnel were also charged in what officials called a widespread corruption scandal that will eventually lead to more arrests of U.S. military and law enforcement officers. Justice Department officials said this type of corruption threatens the security of the U.S.-Mexican border. "Now more than ever, it is critically important that those on the front lines of our nation's borders remain uncorrupted," acting Assistant U.S. Attorney General John Richter said. Dubbed Operation Lively Green, the FBI sting started in December 2001 when sources notified the FBI that military personnel and law enforcement officers were running loads of cocaine in Arizona, said Jana Monroe, the special-agent-in-charge of the FBI's Phoenix field office. Agents lured the military members and law enforcement officers with thousands of dollars in cash for running cocaine loads north from the border. "They were working for the FBI. They didn't know they were working for the FBI," said Noel L. Hillman, section chief of the public integrity section of the criminal division of the Justice Department. To protect the cocaine loads, the group would wear their uniforms and flash their badges at checkpoints in Arizona and Nevada, said Hillman. In the same sting, three Davis-Monthan airmen and two sergeants were charged with conspiracy to smuggle cocaine and are awaiting charges in military court under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, said Lt. Beth Tucker, a spokeswoman for the Air Force. The 16 people ran loads of cocaine from Nogales, Ariz., and Benson to Tucson and Phoenix with still more loads driven north to Las Vegas, Hillman said. During one shipment, the group used military Humvees to transport drugs, officials said. Wearing their uniforms during a 2002 incident, the defendants unloaded an airplane carrying more than 120 pounds of cocaine at a clandestine airstrip in Benson and drove the drug load to a luxury Phoenix resort hotel. The plane was piloted by undercover FBI agents. In another incident, a Customs and Border Protection port inspector waved two vehicles he believed were loaded with cocaine through the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales for a $19,000 payment. That defendant, John M. Castillo, also sold six immigration documents used by people to cross the border to undercover FBI agents for another $12,000. Then he helped run a load of cocaine from Nogales to Tucson, according to the charges read in court Thursday by U.S. District Judge Charles R. Pyle. The 16 people moved more than 1,200 pounds of cocaine worth a street value of $8.4 million, Hillman said. At the time, the 16 people worked for the Arizona Army National Guard, the Arizona Department of Corrections, the Nogales Police Department, the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Army, and the federal Bureau of Prisons, Hillman said. They agreed to plead guilty to the conspiracy charge and to cooperate with the ongoing investigation. Hillman said a "significant number" of further arrests will occur, though he declined to say how many people and what agencies are involved. Eleven of the 16 on Thursday stood before Judge Pyle, who released the defendants on their own recognizance. The remaining five will make their initial appearances in court today and next week. "These individuals have not been arrested; they're appearing voluntarily and they're cooperating with our investigation," Hillman said. Federal prosecutors did not ask for their arrest. Although more guilty pleas are expected, federal officials noted that the majority of police and military service personnel have not been corrupted. "There are approximately 7,000 men and women in the Arizona National Guard. Today the FBI named seven c," said Major Eileen Bienz, spokeswoman for the Arizona Army National Guard. Some questions about the investigation remain. FBI spokesman Bryan Sierra said allegations of misconduct were filed against the FBI during the investigation. He said the FBI would not comment on what the allegations were. Defense attorneys in Tucson said they were notified of the misconduct allegations but also declined comment. Defense attorneys pointed at the poor economic status of the mostly black and Hispanic defendants. "They're obviously involved in what the government caught them up in," said Hortencia Delgadillo, an attorney for David Bustamante, a 35-year-old defendant who worked as a prison guard. But with the temptation for thousands of dollars, "they're obviously going to attract people who need it," she said. Reporter Joe Burchell contributed to this report. Contact reporter Michael Marizco at 573-4213 or at mmarizco@azstarnet.com.