The alphabet agencies are not monolithic; they are labyrinthic. They have their lighter passages, some more than others, where well-meaning people labour to make a difference for the better, and sometimes do. But then there are the darker passages - some, very dark - where others conspire to undo that work, and conceive worse mischief, and often succeed.

Compartmentalization and the cross-agency shadow networks of criminality mean that Special Agents sometimes unwittingly find themselves chasing the tail of their own government. It seems to happen a lot these days. If they ever catch it, look out.

Nowhere are there more examples of this than in the "War on Drugs." We can read the insider accounts of frustrated former DEA Special Agents such as Michael Levine (The Big White Lie) and Cele Castillo (Powderburns), who repeatedly struck their heads upon the glass ceiling of the protected, covert drug trade. And we can see the many cautionary examples of agents who grabbed the tail, and were destroyed for their efforts. The FBI's Darlene Novinger, for instance, whose undercover work had the misfortune of implicating Vice President George Herbert Walker Bush and his son Jeb in a narcotics smuggling operation linked to the Lebanese Phalange.

And here may be another. From Newsday, July 30:

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras -- A U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent was shot and killed in an apparent robbery attempt at a Roman Catholic shrine outside the Honduran capital, officials said Saturday.

Special Agent Timothy Markey was visiting the shrine Friday when two assailants confronted him and shot him twice, according to Honduran federal police and the DEA. Markey was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

...

Markey began his DEA service in September 1989, according to a statement from the agency. He was assigned to the General Watch Unit at the El Paso Intelligence Center, in Texas, at the time of his death.

And that's about all there is, and probably ever will be, in the American press about the death of Special Agent Markey. Except there may be much more, according to DEA Watch, which exists "to provide all special agents and employees of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration and other narcotics agencies a confidentiality protected platform to express job related and other concerns they could not normally raise to higher-ups, the media or co-workers without exposing themselves to punishment, ridicule, revenge or possible physical harm."

Here are some of those confidential DEA voices commenting on Markey, whom they call "the man who knew too much":

Someone wrote: "HQ tried to make him out to be crazy." That is SOP whenever someone discovers dirt and tries to clean it. The same thing happened to Rick Horn who found out that CIA was bugging the homes of DEA agents all over the world. [For more about Horn, see this RI post from last September.] State refused to stop the practice and our own HQ refused to assist Horn. Some in HQ even suggested Horn was "crazy" and made the whole thing up.

Maybe Tim should have left just like Horn did.

And

Markey was frequently mentioned several times in DEA Watch going back several years (sorry, I didn't save those editions). According to those reports Markey may have been a marked man. So this may not have been a "robbery". It may well have been a planned execution. Street robbers don't usually shoot fleeing victims in broad daylight on a public street. The killers were probably hired hitmen... hitkids.

And

As I recall Timothy had a running gun battle with HQ over his getting the boot out of Venezuela some years back. Constantine reportedly forced Tim to see a shrink because Tim filed complaints about some of the others in the DEA office were crooks. I would take a close look at all those Tim worked with in Venezuela. If any can be found to have lots of money and/or property they can't account for that would mean Tim was right and one or more of them might have arranged Tim's murder to look like a street robbery.

And

There is a major international incident now going on in Venezuela involving DEA. The top people in VZ want nothing to do with DEA because they say our people are part of the problem and not part of the solution. There was talk that Markey was to be interviewd by certain members of Congress to find out what Markey could tell them about the shenanigans in the VZ DEA office. Hmmmm.

And

Not surprised to hear that of all the people walking the streets in that town at that particular hour Tim was the only one singled out for what appears to be a murder and not a robbery gone bad. Back in 2001 Tim reported on U.S. State Department narcotics ventures. He was sent to the shrinks in Chicago under the SRP (Suitability Review Protocal) who diagnosed him with "Axis II, Personality Disorder with Borderline Dependent and Self Defeating Features". Crap!!!

I for one would not be at all surprised to see [DEA Administrator Karen] Tandy come up with a laughable report accusing Tim of arranging for his own murder.

Be careful what you learn about when working with State and CIA. If you learn too much, and try making a public report, you will be marked for death. If you want to report, do it anonymously on DEA Watch.

And

When I talked to Tim just a few days ago he told me he would be meeting with a congressman about what went down in Venezuela a few years ago. Apparently the Bush-Cheney oil people are stirring up a lot of trouble in Venezuela to topple the government so that Halliburton and other companies can move in to take over the oil fields. Apparently Tim knew about some of what was going on just after Bush and Cheney first came to office. Everyone the Bush people didn't consider safe -- or had too much information -- was forced out of Venezuela. There is far more to this incident than meets the eye. Fortunately for Bush he has Tandy who will sweep Tim's death under the rug as nothing more than a case of robbery. Tim died for oil. Another casualty of the Bush-Cheney Oil Wars.

And

It seems far too convenient timing for the one person with the honesty and courage to report wrongdoing in Caracas to suddenly get shot by "kids" attempting to rob an American man when there were tons of women with large purses to snatch. With US-Venezuelan relations currently at a boiling point and military action not unthinkable, along with Congress digging into Markey's reports about DEA corruption in Venezuela, the obvious answer is Markey knew too much.

The context for Markey's killing, suggest these anonymous DEA voices, is Venezuela. Here are two headlines from Caracas on Friday, the day Markey died: Venezuelan General Lopez Hidalgo rules out any agreement with DEA and US Ambassador laments probe into alleged DEA irregularities.

"Conspiracy theory," some may want to sniff. But apparently at the DEA, it's just making conversation.

By the way, here are a couple of threads on the RI discussion board you shouldn't miss:

John Loftus: London bombing mastermind is MI6 agent

John Perkins, shapeshifter