LAPD Under Fire After Arranging Mexican Mafia Leader To Wealthy Dinner For The Entertainment Of Business Executives

There is a bizarre story out of Los Angeles where the Los Angeles Police Department spent $22,000 (and had 38 LAPD employees work 320 hours) to bring Rene “Boxer” Enriquez, the infamous ex-Mexican Mafia leader, to an exclusive dinner for private executives. He was featured as a secret, surprise speaker for the well-heeled group called the Young Presidents’ Organization, which describes itself as “the world’s premier peer network of chief executives and business leaders.” Making things worse was the use of an invalid prior order to justify the excursion of “Boxer” Enriquez to entertain the wealthy patrons.

While Enriquez has cooperated with prosecutors, Gov. Jerry Brown recently denied him parole (over the recommendation of prosecutors) due to his history of violence and Brown’s view that he still presented “an unreasonable danger to society if released.”

There is an inescapable fear of the Roman games era in this dinner. Gladiators were often brought to dinners to thrill the wealthy Roman citizens. The invitation for the dinner promised a once in a lifetime opportunity for the audience to hear a surprise guest and that attendees would be “amazed, shocked, blown away and maybe even a little scared.”

Strangely, a commanding officer at LAPD characterized the event as a law enforcement training session when he asked for approval of the event. The visit required a massive amount of administrative personnel and time, including a police helicopter to scout his route to the building and SWAT officers who secured the area.

Four LAPD officers attended the event with the 175 wealthy diners as well as 10 other “high-ranking law enforcement executives” from other agencies. The audience was thrilled when Enriquez was first shown in silhouette behind a curtain as a voice built up excitement. The curtain was then raised to show Enriquez in a black business suit, with his hands cuffed to waist chains and his legs in shackles.”

They all then had a lovely dinner and Enriquez signed copies of a 2009 book about his life.

Source: LA Times