Border Patrol Cited for Inaction on Kickbacks

Davenport said that in February 2001, when he laid out his allegations to Adams and two other Border Patrol officials, he was told to "mind his own business," the report released yesterday said. Adams and Carrillo also told Davenport that "if he wanted to move up in the Border Patrol . . . he had to get along" and drop his complaints.

The two whistle-blowers said that in June 2000 Aguilar contacted a local apartment complex to complain about kickbacks it paid to agents, the report said. Another time, an agent who was a landlord sent Aguilar a memo complaining that another agent demanded kickbacks, but Aguilar "refused to intervene," it said.

Internal probes by the Justice and Homeland Security departments starting in 2003 found Border Patrol managers were uninvolved in the scandal, but the Office of Special Counsel continually prodded them to investigate further and punish higher-ups.

In 2003, DHS officials notified OSC that despite previous promises that it would punish other Border Patrol officials, they had decided not to do so because disciplinary action would be "an administrative burden."

Two more probes by DHS's Customs and Border Protection unit in 2004 "accepted the contentions of the management personnel under investigation despite the existence of contravening evidence," the OSC said.

OSC said yesterday that DHS's investigations of management were deficient and "at best lacked thoroughness."

CBP spokeswoman Kristi M. Clemens said the agency "takes all allegations of misconduct or abuse extremely seriously" and that Commissioner Robert C. Bonner, who heads CBP, "has the highest confidence in Chief Aguilar's leadership and management abilities."

All the kickback allegations of travel improprieties "were investigated and adjudicated," she said. "Those responsible were held accountable."