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Drug traffickers have contributed to several scandals by American and Mexican officials who work on the border. The United States Border Patrol said 77 employees were arrested or indicted on corruption charges in the fiscal years from 2005 to 2017. Credit Credit Ilana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times

McALLEN, Tex. - The former president of Mexico was accused of taking a $100 million bribe from El Chapo. A former sheriff in South Texas took far less from El Gallo - about $100,000.

El Gallo - Tomas Reyes Gonzalez, a drug trafficker now in federal prison - supplied the cash to the former Hidalgo County sheriff, Guadalupe Trevino, for his re-election campaign. Another former Hidalgo County sheriff took bribes to allow a convicted drug dealer to have conjugal visits at the county jail, including in the jail library and in the sheriff's private office. Yet another former sheriff in neighboring Cameron County protected and assisted cocaine dealers, and is now Federal Inmate No. 51689-179.

The corruption that took down those three border sheriffs in 1994, 2005 and 2014 continues today. Next month, the former police chief in the town of La Joya is scheduled to go on trial, after he was indicted on drug charges and accused by federal authorities of helping a drug-trafficking organization transport narcotics while working as a police sergeant in Progreso, Tex.

The much-watched trial of the Mexican drug lord known as El Chapo - whose real name is Joaquín Guzmán Loera and who was convicted last week in a New York courtroom - shed light on the hold that drug traffickers and their money have on the police and politicians in Mexico. One witness at Mr. Guzmán's trial testified that the Mexican president had taken a $100 million bribe in exchange for calling off a nationwide manhunt for the drug kingpin.

But corruption and drug money flow on the United States side of the border as well. Mr. Trevino and the other imprisoned former lawmen in South Texas are but a sampling. More than 100 local, state and federal law enforcement officials have been indicted on drug-related corruption charges on America's southwest border since the 1990s. In just one agency, the Border Patrol, officials said 77 employees were arrested or indicted on corruption charges in the fiscal years from 2005 to 2017.

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Despite the influence of drug money in the Rio Grande Valley, its residents feel safe. Representative Filemon B. Vela Jr., whose district includes the border city of Brownsville, Tex., is so unconcerned about theft that he keeps his keys in his vehicle. Credit Ilana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times

"The money can be an extremely tempting thing," said Kenneth Magidson, who served as the top federal prosecutor in South Texas from 2011 to 2017 as the United States attorney in Houston and whose office prosecuted Mr. Trevino and other former law enforcement officials. "It's hard to say no."

Mr. Trevino had built a decades-long career in law enforcement; his son is a former Mission, Tex., police officer now in federal prison for his role in a corrupt antidrug task force. Mr. Trevino, now 69, returned to his hometown, McAllen, after he was officially released from federal custody last month, but politely declined to comment. "I don't want to relive any of that stuff," he said.

In the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, drug money has a muted yet undeniable presence. It is evident not just in the corruption scandals, but in everyday life, as the illicit profits of the drug trade fuel both legitimate commerce and the underground economy. Drug dealers and their relatives and associates come to the Valley to buy luxury vehicles, build heavily secured mansions, enjoy the night life in the cities of McAllen and Brownsville and gamble for cash in the popular but illegal slot-machine casinos.

W. F. Strong, a professor of communication at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Brownsville and a 30-year resident of the area, called drug money the WD-40 of the Valley. "It's the oil that makes the machinery work, in all kinds of ways that we don't fully understand," Professor Strong said.

No one knows exactly how much of that oil is lubricating the economy.

"There is an underground economy that's fueled by drug proceeds," said Will R. Glaspy, the special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's Houston division, which includes the Rio Grande Valley. "You see drug money that's being utilized to start businesses, prop businesses up. You have legitimate businesses that are unknowingly being supported by illegal drug money. I can't put a dollar figure on it, and I won't limit it to just the Rio Grande Valley. It happens in Houston. It happens in San Antonio. It happens in a lot of our border communities."

Cash that the Mexican army seized from the Sinaloa drug cartel in 2008. "There is an underground economy that's fueled by drug proceeds," said a special agent with the United States' Drug Enforcement Administration. Credit Eduardo Verdugo/Associated Press

Such activity does not lead to cartel gun battles in parking lots or random street violence. Valley residents over all feel safe, and are safe, as they enjoy the year-round sunshine beneath wind-tussled palm trees in low-crime cities. McAllen had zero murders in 2018, down from seven in 2017. Brownsville had two homicides in 2018, down from six in 2017.

Brownsville's congressman, Representative Filemon B. Vela Jr., is so unconcerned about theft that he keeps his keys in his vehicle. To prove his point, after a recent interview at a cafe near the federal courthouse that bears his father's name, Mr. Vela walked to the parking lot, opened the door of his minivan and showed off the keys, on a tray next to the cup holders.

Many residents and officials hesitate to even discuss the presence of drug money, fearing it will perpetuate the false narrative that border cities are chaotic, violent places, an image that is a source of great frustration to many local residents. They said the public corruption in Texas border cities was no different from the public corruption elsewhere around the country.

"Obviously, we have a lot of issues along the border dealing with drug money and attempted bribery of many law enforcement, from our sheriffs to some of our Border Patrol agents and other law enforcement, but that also happens in Chicago and New York and a lot of other places," said State Senator Juan Hinojosa, a Democrat whose district includes Mission and other border towns. "It's not unique to the Valley, but we're right on the border, so there's more of a focus on it."

When Mr. Hinojosa worked as a lawyer in McAllen decades ago, he represented drug dealers who were fighting their charges in court. He had only a few cases, he said.

Osiel Cardenas Jr., the son of the former head of Mexico's Gulf cartel, was arrested at the Sky Sportsbar and Lounge in Brownsville in March, a reminder that the drug trade is never far away from the region. Credit Ilana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times

"Back in the early '80s and the '70s, it was different in the sense that a lot of the defendants in criminal drug cases would pay cash," Mr. Hinojosa said. "I cannot verify, but I've heard attorneys who were offered $50,000, $60,000, $80,000 cash," he said. "I think law enforcement has really clamped down, not only on drug smuggling but the Wild West culture that used to exist."

The influence of the drug trade runs just under the surface of Valley life. People sometimes brush up against it unexpectedly.

One March night last year at the Sky Sportsbar and Lounge in Brownsville, the evening was winding down when a young man suddenly pulled out a handgun, told everyone he was a United States marshal and ordered the patrons to leave or face arrest. On his neck was a gold Cameron County District Attorney's Office badge.

The young man, it turns out, was neither a marshal nor a prosecutor. He was the son of the former head of Mexico's Gulf cartel. Osiel Cardenas Jr., 26, was arrested that night after officers found him, intoxicated, in the parking lot.

"That's kind of one of those surreal moments," said Agent Glaspy of the D.E.A.

Mr. Cardenas's father was sentenced in 2010 to 25 years in a federal prison in Colorado known as the Alcatraz of the Rockies ( the same one where El Chapo is likely to be sent).

In Brownsville, Mr. Cardenas was convicted of a firearms charge and impersonating a marshal. A former Sky bar employee said business noticeably dropped in the aftermath of the incident. But that was months ago. Lately, business has bounced back.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A10 of the New York edition with the headline: Living Well at the Border, Greased by Drug Money. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe

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El Chapo Highlighted Mexican Corruption, but Drug Money Also Lubricates U.S. Border

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McALLEN, Tex. - The former president of Mexico was accused of taking a $100 million bribe from El Chapo. A former sheriff in South Texas took far less from El Gallo - about $100,000. El Gallo - Tomas Reyes Gonzalez, a drug trafficker now in federal prison - supplied the cash to the former Hidalgo County sheriff, Guadalupe Trevino, for his re-election campaign.

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American politicians love to boast about how ours is the greatest country on Earth. But when it comes to clean government, the sad reality is that not only is the United States behind Denmark or New Zealand, it's so far behind that our real peer nations are more like Brazil or Romania. Name a government agency and it's even odds someone high up recently was caught doing something shifty or resigned over improper behavior (Wednesday's contestant was the head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs).

However, it's important to realize that American corruption is just as much about ideology as it is about money and dishonesty. American politics is extremely crooked, but it is also severely tilted to the right in part because the national government is being suffocated under a tsunami of cash.

In the thinking of the Progressive Era or mid-20th century managerial liberalism (as advocated by people like Nelson Rockefeller), the point of tackling corruption was not just to raise ethical standards and create more efficient government, but also free politics from party machines and grubby partisan ideologues. By this view, conflict should be adjudicated not by political combat over basic moral values, but by increasing public knowledge, nonpartisan technocrats, professional investigations, and other supposedly-neutral institutions.

However, this definition of corruption lumps together two very different varieties. The first is corruption for personal benefit - embezzling public funds, for example. The second is corruption on behalf of a voting bloc - for instance, Tammany Hall-style patronage machines where votes are purchased in return for jobs, turkey baskets, and other services. (Often these are combined, of course, but they are logically distinct.)

What America has today is almost exclusively the personal type of corruption, which is considerably worse than the other sort. (A patronage machine may be bent and inefficient, but at least a goodly share of the population gets a piece of the action, and often functional public works and services to boot.) For example, Rohit Chopra and Julie Margetta Morgan recently released a new report for the Roosevelt Institute looking not at money in politics, but money in government. They argue that existing anti-corruption laws are barely being enforced, and are outdated anyway. For example, astoundingly corrupt EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt hasn't been impeached or indicted after months of scandal, and it's not even illegal for members of Congress to trade on insider information ( which they do constantly).

They also say the revolving door and cultural capture (i.e. the tendency of government employees to sympathize with supposed private-sector adversaries) has made regulators identify with the industries they oversee. Former Attorney General Eric Holder, for instance, had an office reserved for him at the high-powered corporate law firm Covington & Burling for his whole tenure, to which he returned after repeatedly refusing to prosecute big banks or their employees for staggering crimes. (The really insidious thing is he would probably honestly deny his corporate ties influenced his decisions.) Finally, all this mess is largely out of public view and thus harder to understand or root out.

Almost all of this is about individual corruption, but it also has a sharp right-wing political complexion. It involves de facto bribery of government employees of both parties (in the form of future jobs, consulting gigs, speaking engagements, etc) by the wealthiest institutions in the land. Virtually all of those are seeking conservative political outcomes: deregulation, legal loopholes, tax subsidies, and so on. Only a few left-leaning institutions (like unions) can even promise that kind of payoff, and none are remotely in the same league as big business money-wise. That's partly how overwhelmingly popular programs like Social Security can be viewed with intense suspicion by half or more of the governing class.

This implies that measures to stamp out corruption would have a marked leftward political valance. Chopra and Morgan suggest a number of procedurally neutral reforms, like creating a new agency similar to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to police self-dealing on the part of bureaucrats and politicians. Nothing about that is explicitly left-wing or even liberal, but if nothing else it would erode some of the extant severe right-wing bias, and thus push American politics to the left.

Old-fashioned progressives or "post-partisan" lobbyists like the goobers at Third Way would probably balk at this effectively partisan outcome, especially if it meant higher taxes and spending. In reality, it's fine if politicians like Bernie Sanders then pivot to establish huge new welfare schemes under the new, cleaner political system. Sometimes honest government means the voting citizenry should get the deluxe benefits they want.

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The astonishing corruption of American democracy

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American politicians love to boast about how ours is the greatest country on Earth. But when it comes to clean government, the sad reality is that not only is the United States behind Denmark or New Zealand, it's so far behind that our real peer nations are more like Brazil or Romania.

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Growing levels of public sector corruption can stifle a country's economic growth while also chipping away at political freedom.

Which parts of the world are perceived to be most corrupt - and further, how does this data differ between regions, and how has it trended over time?

The Corruption Perception Index (CPI)

Today's chart pulls its numbers from the recent 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index report, which has been published by Transparency International annually since 1995. The report scores 180 countries, and is considered the world's most widely-used barometer for corruption.

However, before we dive in to the data, it's worth taking a quick look at the methodology behind the report:
Methodology:

The CPI attempts to measure perceptions about corruption in a country, rather than corruption itself

Specifically, it is focused on the public sector of countries, which includes governments and government-run institutions

The CPI is a composite index, using the results from 13 separate reports and surveys to calculate an overall score

Scores range from 0 (most corrupt) to 100 (most clean)

Finally, it's also worth noting that in the chart, we've added in government types as rated by the Economist Intelligence Unit - they range from "Full Democracy" to "Autocratic Regime".

The Most and Least Corrupt Places

What do experts and businesspeople see as the most and least corrupt global regions?

Western Europe has the highest score on average, while Sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest (most corrupt) average score. The Americas ranks just above the global average score of 43, mainly because the average is skewed by the lower scores of many countries in Latin America (such as Venezuela) and the Caribbean (such as Haiti).

Now, let's look at the top 10 countries overall:

Here's also a look at the world's 20 most populous countries:

As the report notes, the relation between democracy and corruption appears to be quite clear: the more democratic a regime is, the less corrupt it is perceived to be. Using the Economist Intelligence Unit rankings, there are no "Hybrid" or "Autocratic" regimes that come anywhere near the top 10.

The closest may be the U.A.E. - which is classified as an Autocratic Regime - which has a CPI score of 70, good for 23rd place globally.

Trends Over Time

Over the last seven years, the report notes that there were a few specific countries that have consistently trended in one direction or another.

Hungary: The country has seen a -9 point change to its CPI score since 2012, dropping to 46 points in total. That's just a notch above the global average.

Turkey: Turkey's rating has deteriorated from 49 to 41 over the 2012-2018 time period.

Argentina: The South American nation has seen its score rise by eight points over the 2012-2018 time period.

Guyana: Guyana has gained nine points - a significant improvement over its original score of 28 at the start of that time period.

What will be the next country to jump up (or down) the list - and what factors will lead to this change in perception?
Note: The color-coding on the map has been updated to better reflect CPI scores. Ukraine was incorrectly classified as an Autocratic Regime.

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Growing levels of public sector corruption can stifle a country's economic growth while also chipping away at political freedom. Which parts of the world are perceived to be most corrupt - and further, how does this data differ between regions, and how has it trended over time?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Growing levels of public sector corruption can stifle a country's economic growth while also chipping away at political freedom.

Which parts of the world are perceived to be most corrupt - and further, how does this data differ between regions, and how has it trended over time?

The Corruption Perception Index (CPI)

Today's chart pulls its numbers from the recent 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index report, which has been published by Transparency International annually since 1995. The report scores 180 countries, and is considered the world's most widely-used barometer for corruption.

However, before we dive in to the data, it's worth taking a quick look at the methodology behind the report:
Methodology:

The CPI attempts to measure perceptions about corruption in a country, rather than corruption itself

Specifically, it is focused on the public sector of countries, which includes governments and government-run institutions

The CPI is a composite index, using the results from 13 separate reports and surveys to calculate an overall score

Scores range from 0 (most corrupt) to 100 (most clean)

Finally, it's also worth noting that in the chart, we've added in government types as rated by the Economist Intelligence Unit - they range from "Full Democracy" to "Autocratic Regime".

The Most and Least Corrupt Places

What do experts and businesspeople see as the most and least corrupt global regions?

Western Europe has the highest score on average, while Sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest (most corrupt) average score. The Americas ranks just above the global average score of 43, mainly because the average is skewed by the lower scores of many countries in Latin America (such as Venezuela) and the Caribbean (such as Haiti).

Now, let's look at the top 10 countries overall:

Here's also a look at the world's 20 most populous countries:

As the report notes, the relation between democracy and corruption appears to be quite clear: the more democratic a regime is, the less corrupt it is perceived to be. Using the Economist Intelligence Unit rankings, there are no "Hybrid" or "Autocratic" regimes that come anywhere near the top 10.

The closest may be the U.A.E. - which is classified as an Autocratic Regime - which has a CPI score of 70, good for 23rd place globally.

Trends Over Time

Over the last seven years, the report notes that there were a few specific countries that have consistently trended in one direction or another.

Hungary: The country has seen a -9 point change to its CPI score since 2012, dropping to 46 points in total. That's just a notch above the global average.

Turkey: Turkey's rating has deteriorated from 49 to 41 over the 2012-2018 time period.

Argentina: The South American nation has seen its score rise by eight points over the 2012-2018 time period.

Guyana: Guyana has gained nine points - a significant improvement over its original score of 28 at the start of that time period.

What will be the next country to jump up (or down) the list - and what factors will lead to this change in perception?
Note: The color-coding on the map has been updated to better reflect CPI scores. Ukraine was incorrectly classified as an Autocratic Regime.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Growing levels of public sector corruption can stifle a country's economic growth while also chipping away at political freedom. Which parts of the world are perceived to be most corrupt - and further, how does this data differ between regions, and how has it trended over time?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Growing levels of public sector corruption can stifle a country's economic growth while also chipping away at political freedom.

Which parts of the world are perceived to be most corrupt - and further, how does this data differ between regions, and how has it trended over time?

The Corruption Perception Index (CPI)

Today's chart pulls its numbers from the recent 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index report, which has been published by Transparency International annually since 1995. The report scores 180 countries, and is considered the world's most widely-used barometer for corruption.

However, before we dive in to the data, it's worth taking a quick look at the methodology behind the report:
Methodology:

The CPI attempts to measure perceptions about corruption in a country, rather than corruption itself

Specifically, it is focused on the public sector of countries, which includes governments and government-run institutions

The CPI is a composite index, using the results from 13 separate reports and surveys to calculate an overall score

Scores range from 0 (most corrupt) to 100 (most clean)

Finally, it's also worth noting that in the chart, we've added in government types as rated by the Economist Intelligence Unit - they range from "Full Democracy" to "Autocratic Regime".

The Most and Least Corrupt Places

What do experts and businesspeople see as the most and least corrupt global regions?

Western Europe has the highest score on average, while Sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest (most corrupt) average score. The Americas ranks just above the global average score of 43, mainly because the average is skewed by the lower scores of many countries in Latin America (such as Venezuela) and the Caribbean (such as Haiti).

Now, let's look at the top 10 countries overall:

Here's also a look at the world's 20 most populous countries:

As the report notes, the relation between democracy and corruption appears to be quite clear: the more democratic a regime is, the less corrupt it is perceived to be. Using the Economist Intelligence Unit rankings, there are no "Hybrid" or "Autocratic" regimes that come anywhere near the top 10.

The closest may be the U.A.E. - which is classified as an Autocratic Regime - which has a CPI score of 70, good for 23rd place globally.

Trends Over Time

Over the last seven years, the report notes that there were a few specific countries that have consistently trended in one direction or another.

Hungary: The country has seen a -9 point change to its CPI score since 2012, dropping to 46 points in total. That's just a notch above the global average.

Turkey: Turkey's rating has deteriorated from 49 to 41 over the 2012-2018 time period.

Argentina: The South American nation has seen its score rise by eight points over the 2012-2018 time period.

Guyana: Guyana has gained nine points - a significant improvement over its original score of 28 at the start of that time period.

What will be the next country to jump up (or down) the list - and what factors will lead to this change in perception?
Note: The color-coding on the map has been updated to better reflect CPI scores. Ukraine was incorrectly classified as an Autocratic Regime.

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Growing levels of public sector corruption can stifle a country's economic growth while also chipping away at political freedom. Which parts of the world are perceived to be most corrupt - and further, how does this data differ between regions, and how has it trended over time?

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Four Years Ago, Putin Critic Boris Nemtsov Was Murdered. His Daughter Discusses His Legacy

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Four years ago, Boris Nemtsov was assassinated. His daughter, who is still seeking justice, says Russia is more repressive than ever.