Fourteen Police Officers Including 20 Arrested in the State of Mississippi Drug Bribery Sting
A group of 14 serving and previous law-enforcement officers are part of twenty individuals charged taken into custody in the states of Mississippi and Tennessee for accepting bribes from drug traffickers in exchange for law enforcement cover, in what authorities labeled "an enormous breach of the community's confidence".
These apprehensions come after a multi-year probe by federal agents who posed as narcotics dealers. Two of the defendants were county sheriffs from Mississippi.
Federal officials initiated the sting after hearing reports from actual drug traffickers about being forced to provide corrupt payments to police members.
This corruption scheme reportedly reached beyond the Delta area of Mississippi into Memphis, Tennessee, and Miami, Florida.
"The original complaints that started the inquiry were from drug dealers," a U.S. attorney announced during a news conference on Thursday.
Certain law enforcement members had accepted illicit payments ranging from $20,000 (£15,000) and $37,000, the legal official added.
This operation utilized undercover federal agents posing as narcotics sellers with fake narcotics, which the defendants allegedly believed to be 25 kilograms (55 pounds) of the illegal substance.
"They sold out the community," stated a senior FBI official. "They betrayed the trust that the public placed in them, disgraced the badge and weakened the efforts of good law enforcement officers across this state and region."
These detentions take place as U.S. officials have begun air strikes in the southern continent against alleged drug traffickers.
