A Border Patrol agent charged with capital murder in connection with a cartel-related case was hired a year before U.S. Customs and Border Protection implemented a strict new hiring process.
Agent Joel Luna was charged with capital murder in connection with the decapitation of an Honduran man in March.
Luna worked for the agency for six years, according to a spokesman for the Laredo Border Patrol Sector.
In 2010, the Anti-Border Corruption Act began mandated that all applicants for Customs and Border Protection positions take a polygraph exam.
"It's really important that we do the background checks because on the questions they ask is 'Do you have a lot of contacts with people in Mexico?' because of those concerns," said Rosalva Resendiz, a professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley who has studied cartel organizations extensively.
"From informal stories and hearing from people here in the Valley, we know that it's a very common practice for people in the cartel to actually encourage relatives on the U.S. side to join federal agencies," Resendiz said.
Cameron County Sheriff Omar Lucio, though, said he considers these types of cases extremely rare.
"I've been here in the business for a long time, 50 plus years. And (in) 50 plus years you find one or two? I mean, one or two is too many, but by the same token it is not something you see in the paper every single day," Lucio said.
A statement released by the Laredo Sector reads in part: "We do not tolerate corruption or abuse within our ranks, and we fully cooperate with any criminal or administrative investigation of alleged misconduct by any of our personnel, on or off duty. CBP Internal Affairs will cooperate with local authorities on this case."
