A group of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents boasted in a WhatsApp chat of their “world debauchery tour,” shared lurid images of their latest sexual conquests and at one point even joked about “forcible anal rape.” Within months of that exchange, one of the agents in the chat was accused of that very crime.
This October 2014 photo obtained by The Associated Press shows then- U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Agents Jose Irizarry and George Zoumberos in a rooftop pool at a luxury hotel in Cartagena, Colombia, during a DEA assignment for “Operation Whitewash.” Irizarry long considered Zoumberos a brother but in his interviews with investigators accused his former partner of a list of crimes. This March 2015 photo obtained by The Associated Press shows former U.S.
The details of the case and the graphic group chat are outlined in a trove of thousands of secret law enforcement documents obtained by the AP that offer a never-before-seen window into a culture of corruption among federal narcotics agents who parlayed the DEA’s shadowy money laundering operations into a worldwide pursuit of binge drinking and illicit sex.
“I’m very afraid,” she said, her voice trembling over the phone. “He could try to find me or take revenge.”Many of the documents AP obtained focus on ongoing investigations following the scandalous 2020 arrest of José Irizarry, an agent in the group chat considered the ringleader of the debauchery and perhaps the
In the end, the DEA audit found the five-year operation could claim credit for just five convictions while agents shelled out $900,000 on travel, and $26,000 on meals as they partied around the world tapping a $1.9 million government fund of lawful money laundering proceeds they referred to as their “debauchery piggy bank.”
Before one jaunt, an agent wrote colleagues he was “hoping you’ve organized some welcome p---y for me tomorrow when I land.”Added another: “Think of how different our experience on the job is than most.” References to anal sex were so common in the group chat that agents coined a term for it – pancaking – and often accompanied such mentions with an emoji of a stack of pancakes.There were frequent mentions of prostitutes and at least two references to assaulting them and leaving it to an informant to “clean up” the mess.
“In the context of such serious criminal allegations, the chats look like evidence of a crime and not just grotesque banter,” he said. “U.S. law enforcement has an obligation to fully investigate this case and to hold anyone involved in criminal activity accountable regardless of their position.”in which agents participated in “sex parties” with prostitutes hired by Colombian cartels.
Among the quiet casualties was the head of the St. Louis division who retired amid allegations that he rented a New York apartment for his paramour with DEA funds. Another who quit was a veteran supervisor of the jet-setting agents who lied to the FBI about soliciting prostitutes, according to a law enforcement official who wasn’t authorized to discuss the investigation.
Irizarry long considered Zoumberos a brother but in his interviews with investigators accused his former partner of a list of crimes, including that he used DEA snitch money to buy a personal boat. The woman told AP that, over drinks, Zoumberos showed her smartphone photos of him fishing and playing with his dogs.The conversation was pleasant, she said, and she lost track of time. With the subway closed, Zoumberos made what seemed like a gentlemanly offer.
A few hours later, the DEA chief in Spain placed an urgent telephone call to the agency’s command center outside Washington. Records show nearly three dozen DEA officials were eventually notified of Zoumberos’ arrest, including then-acting administrator Robert W. Patterson.
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