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The directors of the FBI and ATF, along with Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) and the military attended a groundbreaking Monday for a new Terrorist Explosive Devices Analytical Center (TEDAC) Laboratory at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala.

The FBI described the new center as “a milestone in TEDAC’s development and in the combined efforts to defeat the threat of improvised explosive devices, or IEDs.”

An FBI press release said the new building will provide dedicated forensic and technical exploitation workspace for TEDAC.

Currently, TEDAC shares laboratory facilities with the FBI Laboratory at Quantico.  The facility works with multiple agencies.

Photo: Breaking ground: pictured from left to right are FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III; Redstone Arsenal commander Major General Lynn Collyar; U.S. Senator Richard Shelby; and Acting ATF Director B. Todd Jones.

Steve Neavling

Trial begins next month for two former Border Patrol agents accused of smuggling people from Mexico, Fox News reported.

One of the agents, Raul Villarreal, often appeared on TV to warn Mexicans of the dangers of entering the U.S. illegally.

Villarreal’s older brother and fellow former agent, Fidel Villarreal also is accused of smuggling hundreds of migrants from Mexico, according to Fox News.

The high-profile corruption case is just the latest in an agency that has struggled with malfeasance since doubling its number of agents to more than 21,000 over the past seven years, Fox News reported.

The FBI is investigating the small Southern California city of Cudahy after arresting three officials Friday that feds say accepted bribes to support the opening of a marijuana dispensary, L.A. Times reports.

Documents in the case against former City Manager Angel Perales, Mayor David Silva and Councilman Osvaldo Conde suggest bribery and other malfeasance are far more pervasive, according to the Times.

“These guys are not your typical, uh, council people,” the longtime official, Angel Perales, advised the informant in a phone call on Jan. 26, according to a transcript released by the U.S. attorney, the Times reported. “They’ve dealt with, you know, people that throw money down.”

Federal investigators also appear to be determining whether the city was involved with election fraud.

Steve Neavling

The shooting death of a suspected drug trafficker in Honduras by a federal agent is part of a new, aggressive enforcement strategy that started in April, the Washington Post reports.

Since then, the DEA has seen a dramatic increase in arrests.

The mission is called Operation Anvil and is run by six U.S. Department helicopters that search out suspicious flights, according to the Post.

As part of the new operation, drug agents follow every flight of unknown origin and bypass rules of U.S. military engagement by contracting with non-U.S. pilots, the Post reported.

House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa said Sunday there is no evidence that the White House was involved in a cover-up of the botched gun-trafficking operation known as “Fast and Furious,” Bloomberg reports.

Instead, Issa said on several Sunday talk shows that the blame lies with Justice Department for covering up documents about the operation, which allowed illegally purchased guns to be smuggled to Mexican drug cartels.

Meanwhile, the U.S. House is expected to vote this week on contempt of Congress charges against U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder for withholding some documents.

“Justice lied to the American people on Feb. 4 and didn’t make it right for 10 months,” Issa sad on Fox New Sunday, according to Bloomberg.

Federal prosecutors are hoping send a message about illegal online gambling by urging a judge to sentence the brother-in-law of U.S. Rep. John Tierney, D-Massachusetts, for at least four years, the Boston Herald reported.

The mastermind of Antigua-based Sports Off Shore, Daniel Eremian, was found guilty in December of racketeering and conspiracy for operating a multimillion-dollar gambling website.

The case is the first of its kind since the passage of the Unlawful Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, according to the Boston Herald.

“The online gaming world has been watching the case at bar and the court’s sentence must reflect that criminal organizations cannot hide in offshore havens and commit crimes in the United States,” prosecutors said in their sentencing memorandum filed in U.S. District Court, as reported by the Boston Herald. “If the court’s sentence does not provide sufficient punishment, other offshore gambling businesses may take it as a signal that U.S. laws have no teeth and that it is worth the risk to conduct their business in the United States.”

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