Seven police officers in Puerto Rico, including some assigned to drug units, have been charged for trafficking and distributing marijuana and other narcotics, the island’s U.S. attorney’s office announced Monday evening.
“When the officer with a gun and a badge is no different from the trafficker peddling drugs in the street, we all suffer. That is why the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners are determined to root out corruption, wherever and in whatever forms it may be found,” Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, said in a statement.
Four indictments reveal charges against seven cops for actions that contradict with their duties to protect and uphold the law.
“Today’s charges represent a grave breach of the oath taken by these sworn officers,” Douglas Leff, the special agent in charge of the FBI in San Juan, said.
The first indictment states each of the four officers assigned to the Caguas Drug Unit possessed pot with intent to distribute and also carried a firearm while committing that crime. Each person could face up to five years in prison for the drug charge and possible life for the firearm violation.
Another officer was listed in a second indictment for possessing detectable amounts of weed with intent to distribute near Vega Baja, Puerto Rico.
A third indictment shows an officer tried to distribute small amounts of Tramadol — a Schedule IV controlled substance — and carried a gun while doing so. He was also charged with attempting to sell within 1,000 feet of a school. He could spend up to two decades in jail for the drug charge and life behind bars for the firearm offense.
The final indictment charged another cop with selling a gun and ammunition to a prohibited person, in his case a felon. He could be sentenced to 10 years in prison if convicted.
