WESLACO - The images are powerful. They provide a rare inside look at what Immigration and Custom Enforcement Officers see everyday. Pictures of illegal immigrants packed in trucks, stash houses, gang members, marijuana, cocaine and more all on a flash drive and for sale at the First Cash Pawn Shop in Elsa.
The man who bought the flash drive called NEWSCHANNEL 5 concerned that government photos like the ones he came across could end up in the wrong hands.
We contacted ICE and within days they came to take a closer look at the photos to track them down and determine where they came from.
"We found out that these were photos that had been shared by an employee with a professor at the university," said Jerry Robinette, Special Agent in Charge.
Robinette is with the ICE office of investigations. He says no cases were compromised, but that the photos found on the flash drive should not have been available to the public.
"Sometimes it's not the kind of material we'd like to share. It is sensitive in the sense that it does depict some of the work we do," Robinette said.
Right now, ICE is trying to figure out who was involved. They want to know how the photos ended up on a flash drive that was eventually sold to a pawn shop.
NEWSCHANNEL 5's computer specialist, Michael Leal, says photos and other private information won't disappear from your computer, even if you hit delete. He says you can download free programs that will wipe your hard drive clean.
Robinette says ICE is now taking steps to better protect secret information stored on computers.
"We want to make sure we can prevent something like this from happening in the future," Robinette said.
