A DEA sting operation targeting a cell of would-be cartel assassins ended in a violent warehouse showdown over the weekend. Among their ranks: one active-duty Army soldier, and one former G.I. According to a criminal complaint released yesterday in federal court (.pdf), the showdown occured around 12:30 p.m. Saturday as armed federal agents closed in on the group, who had just arrived at a warehouse in the border city of Laredo, Texas; traveling from Colorado Springs and the nearby Fort Carson military base. They believed they were meeting with members of the Zetas — in reality,undercover DEA agents. The assumed plan: Receive instructions before raiding a ranch holding 20 kilos of stolen cartel cocaine, and then killing the (phony) cocaine thief. During the bust, Jerome Corley of South Carolina was killed by the agents, and three others, including Corley’s 29-year-old cousin, a former Army officer, were arrested. The dramatic end concluded a larger plot dating back more than a year. According to the complaint, the group planned to help smuggle cocaine from Mexico, and then funnel guns back to the “cartel.” The former Army officer and Afghanistan veteran, 1st Lt. Kevin Corley, Jerome Corley’s cousin, also offered to assist the undercover agents in carrying out contract killings. Joining Corley for the operation was an active-duty soldier, 28-year-old Sgt. Samuel Walker, also of Colorado Springs. Not only that, but the former lieutenant planned to capitalize on his military service by providing “tactical training for cartel members, including approaches, room clearing, security, and convoy security,” according to the complaint. Now, it’s not known exactly what happened leading up to the shooting, or if the group was armed or resisted arrest. But according to the complaint, inside the group’s vehicle were two scoped semi-automatic rifles, a scoped bolt-action rifle with a bipod, ammunition and a hatchet which authorities say was intended to “dismember the body” of a victim at the ranch. The weapons, according to the complaint, were intended to “prove to the undercover agent they were serious about performing the contract kill.” Before making the trip from Colorado, authorities say Corley also told an undercover agent that he bought the hatchet to dismember his victim, and had acquired a “new Ka-Bar knife to carve a ‘Z’ into the victim’s chest” — Z for Zetas. Corley had also built up something of a working relationship with the agents. The complaint says he had already delivered, for $10,000, two scoped AR-15 rifles, an airsoft rifle — for training purposes — and five stolen ballistic vests. In December, he sent a copy of an Army tactical guide to agents, and considered stealing other weapons from military posts and then selling them. Another accused conspirator, Calvin Epps of South Carolina, told authorites he had access to grenades through a willing accomplice in the military. “Kevin Corley thoroughly explained military tactics and told undercover agents he could train 40 cartel members in two weeks,” the complaint alleges. Authorities added that Corley “had already discussed this opportunity with several experienced soldiers in his platoon who expressed interest in working with the cartel.” The complaint also says Corley claimed to have two teams prepared: one to help train cartel gunmen and another to carry out “wet work” — assassinations. Corley was discharged from the military at Fort Carson, Colorado, on March 13. Less than two weeks later, the first “wet work” operation was set to begin. Accompanying Corley was 28-year-old Army Sgt. Samuel Walker, also of Colorado Springs, Jerome Corley and 29-year-old Shavar Davis of Denver. Epps, along with two other South Carolina-based conspirators, had already been arrested during a similar sting outside Laredo. Corley’s would-be hit squad, meanwhile, kept up contact. However, it would end with one of their members killed.