Inside the bribery plot that led to a DEA supervisor’s downfall in the Dominican Republic

MIAMI (AP) — The scheme began, investigators say, with a hushed message passed along by a music promoter in the Caribbean: Instead of the usual years-long wait to apply for permission to enter the United States, a visa appointment at the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic could be had in as little as two weeks. All it took was $10,000 in cash — and a trusted contact inside the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

According to a criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday, that DEA contact was Meliton Cordero, a supervisor for the anti-narcotics agency assigned to the Dominican Republic for the past five years. Prosecutors say Cordero leveraged his position inside the U.S. Embassy to push visa applications forward, claiming applicants were valuable law-enforcement sources — even when he had never met them.

In total, the longtime agent submitted or approved nearly 120 visa referrals during his posting — an extraordinarily high number, consular officials told investigators.

Cordero’s arrest last week in Washington as part of the ongoing investigation prompted the Trump administration to abruptly shutter the DEA’s office in the Caribbean nation over what it said was a “disgusting and disgraceful violation of public trust.”

The DEA has not commented on the specific allegat...