US Servicemen Caught in Cartel Murder-for-Hire Sting

Two US Army servicemen attempting to get hired as contract killers for a Mexican drug cartel were arrested by undercover feds last weekend in Laredo, Texas, in the climax to a DEA sting launched in Jan. 2011. Sergeant Samuel Walker, 28, and former Lieutenant Kevin Corley, 29, believed they were meeting with members of the Los Zetas cartel to discuss murdering rival gang members and recovering stolen cocaine in exchange for $50,000 and drugs. Instead, the soldiers—one on active duty, the other recently discharged—along with a third suspect, Shavar Davis, 29, were arrested by federal agents posing as cartel members. A fourth suspect, Corley's cousin Jerome Corley, was shot to death during the arrests. The three surviving suspects are being held in federal custody and face charges for drugs, weapons and conspiracy. The Los Zetas cartel, considered to be one of Mexico's most technologically advanced, powerful and violent drug outfits, is based just across the border from Laredo. Cartel violence throughout Mexico is believed to be responsible for nearly 50,000 deaths since 2006.