A Total of 14 Police Officers Including 20 Arrested in the State of Mississippi Drug Bribery Sting
Fourteen current and former law-enforcement officers are among 20 defendants arrested in the states of Mississippi and Tennessee for taking illicit payments from drug traffickers in to provide law enforcement cover, in what authorities described as "a monumental betrayal of public trust".
These apprehensions come after a years-long probe by federal agents who acted as drug sellers. Among those charged were Mississippi sheriffs.
Federal officials initiated the sting after receiving complaints from real narcotics criminals about being forced to provide corrupt payments to officers.
This corruption scheme reportedly reached beyond the Mississippi Delta region into Memphis, Tennessee, and Miami in Florida.
"Initial reports that started the inquiry were from drug dealers," a federal prosecutor stated during a press briefing on Thursday.
Some of the officers had received bribes between $20,000 (£15,000) and $37,000, the legal official noted.
The sting utilized undercover federal agents acting as drug dealers with fake narcotics, which the accused individuals reportedly thought to be 25kg (55lb) of cocaine.
"They sold out the community," declared a senior FBI official. "They betrayed the confidence that the public placed in them, disgraced the badge and weakened the efforts of honest police members across this area and locality."
The arrests occur as U.S. officials have begun air strikes in the southern continent against alleged drug traffickers.
