Original Article 16 plead guilty in drug smuggling sting Law officers, GIs will cooperate in FBI border probe Dennis Wagner The Arizona Republic Sept. 1, 2005 12:00 AM A new round of guilty pleas by military and law enforcement personnel has nearly doubled the number of government employees corrupted in a bribery and narcotics-smuggling conspiracy along the Arizona-Mexico border. To date, 33 suspects have agreed to cooperate with the FBI in a probe that suggests a staggering openness to crime among some uniformed government workers. The list of defendants includes Arizona Army National Guard members, state Department of Corrections officers, regular military personnel and Nogales Police Department employees. The FBI sting known as Operation Lively Green targeted corrupt government officials who worked with cocaine-smuggling organizations from January 2002 to March 2004. The defendants transported 670 kilograms of the drug, in some cases wearing uniforms and hauling loads in military vehicles. Other times, suspects waved narcotics through the border or looked the other way, according to the Department of Justice. Federal investigators said members of the ring accepted bribes totaling nearly $300,000 for transporting cocaine and recruiting other government workers into the conspiracy. The bribes actually were paid by undercover FBI agents. As the operation wound down, authorities said, some participants made extortionate threats in an effort to prevent colleagues from cooperating with the Southern Arizona Corruption Task Force. Wednesday's announcement marked a second round of charges in the case, with 16 new defendants agreeing to plead guilty and cooperate with investigators. In May, 17 defendants pleaded guilty, including former members of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the federal Bureau of Prisons. They are to be sentenced at the U.S. District Court in Tucson in December. All told, 12 Arizona Army National Guard soldiers have been charged in the case. Capt. Paul Aguirre, a guard spokesman, said he could not comment on any court martial or disciplinary actions planned by the military until after the civilian prosecutions are completed. A dozen state prison employees also have been named as defendants. Most of those were fired or resigned this spring when the corruption probe went public. At the time, DOC director Dora Schriro described their criminal acts as "despicable." Bart Graves, a prisons spokesman, said corrections officers violate the law with open eyes because they work with criminals every day. Graves said the corrupt officers are no reflection on an estimated 10,300 DOC employees who do honest work for low pay.