Building the US’s First Known Gang Intelligence Database in Latin America

As an agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) who later embedded with the CIA, Wes Tabor worked to dismantle criminal networks in Central and South America - think gangs like MS-13, the Sinaloa Cartel, and Tren de Aragua. In 2006, he was stationed in Guatemala, a transit corridor for South American cocaine to enter the US. It was during this time that he created a gang intelligence system to help identify gang members, using biodata and records from regional prisons and police departments. As confirmed by two retired DEA agents, the FBI then took the database and made it their own. This is how it happened. *Clarification: The US arrested Guatemala's anti-drug chief in 2009, while three high-ranking, anti-narcotics police officers were arrested by the U.S. in 2005.

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Building the US’s First Known Gang Intelligence Database in Latin America is an episode from SpyCast by SpyCast.

This episode is 35:47 long.

This episode was published on Feb 3, 2026.

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