DEA agents jail student 5 days with no food, water; get slap on wrist

[Stuart G]

Source: LA Times

By Timothy M. Phelps
4am - May 5, 2015

Federal agents responsible for leaving a 23-year-old UC San Diego engineering student in a holding cell for five days without food or water received only reprimands or short suspensions from the Drug Enforcement Administration, according to the Justice Department.

Daniel Chong was swept up in a 2012 DEA raid on his friends' house, where he had gone to smoke marijuana. After an interrogation, he was told he would be released.

But the agents responsible forgot about him, according to a Department of Justice Office of Inspector General report last summer, leaving him to drink his own urine to stave off dehydration.

The Justice Department, in a letter to members of Congress obtained by the Los Angeles Times, said that “what happened to Mr. Chong is unacceptable” and that “the DEA’s failure to impose significant discipline on these employees further demonstrates the need for a systemic review of DEA’s disciplinary process.” Chong, who was never charged with a crime, was kept in total isolation with his hands handcuffed behind his back in a windowless cell with no bathroom, calling out periodically for help.


Read more: http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-dea-chong-20150505-story.html

---

LA Times has obtained proof that the agents responsible for the above received very little or no punishment for their inhuman treatment of Daniel Chong. How could it be that such incompetence is not punished severely? This seems to be a pattern in law enforcement agencies.

[hobbit709]

1. They should lock the agents in a cell for 5 days under the same conditions.

[Stuart G]

3. Yes, then the DEA would never have this particular problem again.

Word would get out to always check on detainees..no matter what. Kinda simple to solve, but obviously won't happen

[erronis]

16. Even better, along with a few prior detainees

Who volunteer to "retrain" the DEA staff.

Same as should happen to any police officer convicted of abuse. Put them in a cell with some other non-police detainees.

Personally, I'd like to see the equivalency for the US armed forces after they've carpet-bombed Vietnam, Afghanistan. I'd like to see the drone operators have to live in the area that they feel free to annihilate families, wedding parties.

I'd like to see congress-holes live on the wages that would "trickle down" to them if they didn't have "friends with money".

[Joe Chi Minh]

25. It's behaviour you might expect from an organised crime outfit, as a punishment,

or duress, in order to extort information or money ; although perhaps a team with a more than usually high complement of borderline psychotics.

'The maximum time an individual can go without water seems to be a week — an estimate that would certainly be shorter in difficult conditions, like broiling heat.

The week limit is based on observations of people at the end of their lives, when food and water intake has been stopped, Randall K. Packer, a professor of biology at George Washington University told Maggie Fox of NBC News last year.

However, one week is a generous estimate. Three to four days would be more typical.'

I wonder if he suffered organ damage and (surely) psychological trauma.

[JonLP24]

29. Yes

The situation he was in was certainly traumatic and often the aftermath is more painful than the event itself.

A book I highly recommend "Surviving Survival" details this one of the best books in how the brain works in general from "mirror neurons" to so much more. There are often movies where there is an epic survival event and when the hero makes it through alive the credits roll but in reality they are picking up the pieces long after it happens. The same author who is a psychologist wrote a better known book "Who lives, who dies, and why".

They very likely potentially scarred this person for a very long time possibly both physically & mentally.

[Joe Chi Minh]

30. I think so. Does he not have any legal recourse to win compensation. Evidently,

punitive damages would be out of the question, if they're being given a slap on the wrist.

[JonLP24]

31. I'd hope so

I think he might but not an expert on these things. Generally I think it depends on the courts & judges the legal defense for the government will fight tooth & nail but if he has a strong legal team backing him than an out-of-court settlement is likely.

[CanonRay]

2. There's no accountability anymore for anything

These guys should've been fired as a message.

[d_legendary1]

24. Agree 100%

But their unions, internal affairs, and prosecutors buddies aren't going to let that happen. After all, they're in bed with each other and fuck da law (cuz we are the law)!!!

[Psephos]

4. DEA operates outside the Constitution, with judicial approval. Pure evil.

Read this story for another dose of DEA "justice."

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150428/16401530826/who-pays-when-dea-destroys-your-vehicle-kills-your-employee-during-botched-sting-hint-not-dea.shtml

Who Pays When The DEA Destroys Your Vehicle And Kills Your Employee During A Botched Sting? Hint: Not The DEA

Craig Patty runs a tiny trucking company in Texas. He has only two trucks in his "fleet." One of them was being taken to Houston for repairs by his employee, Lawrence Chapa. Or so he thought. In reality, Chapa was working with the DEA, which had paid him to load up Patty's truck with marijuana and haul it back to Houston so the DEA could bust the prospective buyers. That's when everything went completely, horribly wrong.

As the truck entered northwest Houston under the watch of approximately two dozen law enforcement officers, several heavily armed Los Zetas cartel-connected soldiers in sport utility vehicles converged on Patty’s truck. In the ensuing firefight, Patty’s truck was wrecked and riddled with bullet holes, and a plainclothes Houston police officer shot and wounded a plainclothes Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputy who was mistaken for a gangster.

The truck’s driver was killed and four attackers were arrested and charged with capital murder.
Until Patty received a call notifying him that his employee had been killed, he was completely unaware of the DEA's operations involving both his truck and his driver. Unbelievably, things got even worse for Patty after this discovery.

Patty's truck was impounded by the DEA. After it was released to him, it was out of service for several months as it underwent more than $100,000-worth of repairs. The DEA offered him no financial assistance for the truck it helped fill with bullet holes nor did it offer to make up for the revenue Patty lost while his truck was out of commission. His insurance company likewise turned down his claim, citing his truck's use in a law enforcement operation. Nor did the DEA offer to do something to repair his newly-acquired reputation as a drug runner and/or DEA informant -- something that makes Patty's life a little bit more dangerous.

(snip)

[JonLP24]

13. When the CIA was selling cocaine to fund a war with the Contras

they did it with the help of a DEA informant who just mysteriously vanishes. Either living the high life somewhere or dead is my guess but I remember Rick Ross said something about people telling him he sold a lot dope but his connection sold way more dope than him.

Another DEA informant was the mastermind of the Mumbai bombings, repeatedly let go for international drug trafficking
http://www.investigativeproject.org/2314/dea-hired-mumbai-plotter-despite-warning

Chavez kicked out the DEA in 2005 if IIRC, he said they were spies and he was right because the Snowden archive confirms that the DEA has been doubling as a Spy agency for years -- countries bring them in because they have a drug trafficking problem, see no harm in the DEA because of their stated mission come in and spy on the foreign leaders.

Snowden Docs Reveal NSA, DEA Teamed Up to Record Every Cell Phone Call in Bahamas

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/5/20/snowden_docs_reveal_nsa_dea_teamed

Something is up with their long & shameful, shady history.

[Enthusiast]

15. +1 a whole bunch!

[Duppers]

22. damn! Post Recommend. nt

[JonLP24]

27. Thanks

I probably should have included links for Oscar Danilo Blandon -- it is really twisted

Oscar Danilo Blandón Reyes (born 1952) was the head of Nicaragua's agricultural imports under Anastasio Somoza. He has a master's degree in marketing. When the Somoza government was overthrown in 1979, Blandón fled to the United States,[1] and then raised money for the Nicaraguan Democratic Force (FDN), a Contra group. As part of his fundraising activities Blandón sold drugs and weapons (via Ronald Lister and "Freeway" Rick Ross) to the Crips in Los Angeles. Blandón claimed that the Central Intelligence Agency protected him, allowing him to operate without fear of reprisal. Journalist Gary Webb substantiated the claim in his book Dark Alliance.[2]

In 1986, Blandón was arrested on drug charges by the FBI. In May 1992, Blandón was convicted in US District Court (San Diego) on the federal charge of "conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute." He was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison, but was released due to time served. Following his imprisonment, Blandón was hired by the Drug Enforcement Administration and salaried at $42,000. He worked for the DEA to take down drug kingpin Rick Ross in a sting operation, for which Ross was convicted in 1997.[3]

Blandón was not a US Citizen/National, and is the only known foreigner in US history not to be deported following conviction on drug trafficking charges. The INS granted Blandón a green card, despite the criminal convictions, to allow him to work for the DEA. The DEA has said that Blandón is no longer on its payroll and his whereabouts are unknown.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Danilo_Bland%C3%B3n

[Pooka Fey]

5. K&R

[AuntPatsy]

6. Criminals are in charge..

[ChairmanAgnostic]

7. When Nixon declared a War on Drugs, the resulting increase in funding,

plus the Us vs. Them mentality made terrible results like these not just possible, but likely. Now, they are fighting on two fronts - A. They need to keep the war going, just to maintain their funding, and B. they continue to act as though it is a real war, and in a war you want to shoot first.

I am waiting for a Democrat, any Democrat, to demand the end of the War on Drugs, and perhaps, to close down the whole DEA.

[Stainless]

8. Where is the accountability?

These lazy, despicable DEA agents should indeed be put in a holding cell without any contact for five days and then they should be fired. The supervisors should also be fired for their lack of awareness.

[dbackjon]

9. At the very least

They should have been abandoned, handcuffed in a cell for 5 days.

[iscooterliberally]

10. The DEA is a redundant and parasitic government agency.

The DEA provides absolutely no value to society at all. The controlled substances act, which created this abomination should be repealed entirely and the DEA done away with. They are corrupt to the core and morally reprehensible. The US and the entire world would be better off without them.

[Jackpine Radical]

17. That pretty much says it all.

[iscooterliberally]

18. Your Bernie is bigger than mine.

[Jackpine Radical]

32. Oh, that's subtle. Nice touch.

And we really shouldn't probably compare people or draw conclusions about them based on the size of their Bernies.

[iscooterliberally]

33. Thanks you made my day!

[JonLP24]

11. DEA doubles as a Spy organization

Last edited Tue May 5, 2015, 03:39 PM - Edit history (1)

the drug trafficking stuff is a cover for the spying they do. Something is very shady about the history of the agency.

On edit -- while drinking urine is common in a survival situation (like the man who amputated his own arm that was trapped under a boulder) it is a very bad idea especially when you are dehydrated drinking the dark yellow stuff.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

12. It's not just the DEA. It's ALL LEOs.

[Enthusiast]

14. Criminal Brown Shirt assholes.

[lark]

19. This is one governmental agency I'd love to eliminate, along with Homeland Security.

Both are evil money pits that suck down a lot of good taxpayer money for no good purpose.

[Duppers]

21. +100

[Duppers]

20. Police State!

If the f**king rethugs wanna close an agency, it should be this one!!

Wonder how much of the drugs they confiscate actually get turned in?

They're lucky this kid didn't die. Or would they have been like the mafia and would have hauled his body into the dessert. Am I too cynical?

[Kelvin Mace]

26. I keep pointing out that we live in a police state, but

the last time I mentioned it I was told I was being hyperbolic and I should move to North Korea if wanted to see a "real" police state.

[JonLP24]

28. When it comes to the DEA I think it is fair to be cynical

I'd like to know what they are really up to given their past history of protecting huge international drug traffickers -- one that was a mastermind to the Mumbai bombings & another selling cocaine to finance a war in Nicaragua. His whereabouts are unknown.`

[turbinetree]

23. Apparently................

Apparently they forgot about the little thing called due process and the some Amendments called the 4th, 5th, 8th, are the ones that come to mind.
Just think if it was one of there family members--------what would they say------I mean really---what would they say