Federal prosecutors have announced the indictment and arrest of 20 individuals, most of them sworn law enforcement officers, in the Mississippi Delta region for allegedly conspiring with Mexican drug cartels to smuggle narcotics into the United States.
U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner for the Northern District of Mississippi made the announcement at a press conference on Thursday.
“We’re here today to talk about some incredibly serious allegations that mark a monumental betrayal of public trust, to announce the indictment and arrest of 20 individuals, most of them law enforcement officers in the Mississippi Delta region. The indictments generally allege the taking of bribes to attempt to aid and abet drug trafficking, as well as associated crimes,” said Joyner.
The announcement detailed the results of a years-long federal investigation and sting operation in the Mississippi Delta region, resulting in the indictment and arrest of 20 individuals, including 14 current or former law enforcement officers and six co-conspirators.
- Accepting bribes: The officers allegedly accepted bribes ranging from $20,000 to $37,000 in exchange for police protection.
- Aiding drug trafficking: The defendants provided armed escort services for what they believed were large quantities of illegal drugs for people they believed were drug traffickers (who were actually undercover FBI agents).
- Conspiracy: The scheme involved a network of corruption that extended across multiple counties in Mississippi and into Tennessee.
“The indictments generally allege the taking of bribes to attempt to aid and abet drug trafficking, as well as associated crimes,” Joyner added.
“The first indictment that I’ll talk about involves a conspiracy whereby law enforcement officers and their accomplices are alleged to have agreed to provide safe passage for illegal narcotics and drug proceeds through the Mississippi Delta region, and ultimately, on the last of those runs, into Memphis itself. They did this in return for bribe payments — for money. They are also indicted for related firearms offenses and, of course, individual counts related to specific runs throughout the Mississippi Delta.”
FBI Deputy Director Andrew Bailey stated that the accused officers had betrayed the public’s trust.
“They betrayed the trust that the public placed in them, disgraced the badge and undermined the hard work of good law enforcement officers across this state and region,” Bailey told the news conference.
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