TRUTH CAMPAIGN 08

About DRCNetStop the Drug War (DRCNet) is an international organization working for an end to drug prohibition worldwide and for interim policy reform in US drug laws and criminal justice system. Read more about DRCNet.

Make a Donation

Want to stop the drug war? One way to help is to make a generous donation -- member support makes up a critical portion of our budget, and we can't do it without you!

Join the Community

Higher Education Act Reform Campaign

Higher Education Act Reform Campaign

The John W. Perry Fund -- scholarships for students losing financial aid because of drug convictions

some organizations DRCNet played a role in starting:


en Españolem Português

Drug War Chronicle - world’s leading drug policy newsletter

Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

This week we have a pair from the US-Mexico border, where temptation is always close at hand, and a pair from Florida, where corruption seems to thrive in the steamy atmosphere. Let's get to it:

In El Paso, a Customs and Border Patrol agent was arrested July 27 for allegedly letting more than a ton of marijuana into the country. CBP Officer Margarita Crispin is charged with one count of conspiracy to import a controlled substance. According to the indictment, she conspired with others from 2003 to this year to let truck loads get by border checkpoints. She was jailed awaiting a bond hearing at last report.

In Miami Beach, a city parking enforcement officer was arrested last weekend on drug sales charges. Enforcement Officer Elio Espinosa allegedly sold three bags of drugs to an informant. He is charged with possession of cocaine with intent to sell within 1,000 feet of a school.

In Tucson, three former National Guardsmen were sentenced to prison last week for conspiring to run drugs for traffickers. They are only the latest of the more than three dozen current and former police and military personnel ensnared in Operation Lively Green, an FBI sting where agents posed as traffickers and enlisted the help of law enforcement and military personnel to move drug shipments. Demian Castillo, a former recruiter for the Tucson Army National Guard, got two years for accepting $14,000 to run two drug loads in 2002. Former Guard member Sheldon Anderson got 10 months for helping out on a single drug run. Former Guardsman Mario Quintana got two years for helping out on two loads. All three pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official.

In Hollywood, Florida, a fifth Hollywood police officer has now pleaded guilty in an FBI sting operation. Former Hollywood Police Lt. Charles Roberts pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement when he told investigators he knew nothing about an undercover FBI sting. The sting, known as Operation Tarnished Badge, targeted Hollywood police officers who were agreeable to transporting heroin for people they believed to be drug dealers but who were actually FBI agents. It was shut down early after word of its existence leaked out. Three officers have been sentenced to prison for their roles in drug transportation conspiracies, and a fourth awaits sentencing this month. Roberts faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced in October.

Drug War Issues Police Corruption

Bogus sting operation

No one ever seems to realize that in most of these stings not a single person who was ACTUALLY trafficking in drugs was stopped from doing so.

I teach criminal justice majors in SoCal

I teach criminal justice majors in Southern California and I talk about this web site, and inparticular these egregious offenses nearly every week. Unless we legalize marijuana once and for all, this nonsense will continue and probably escalate.

Drug lawsr

Even cops are affected by lousey drug laws.It amazes me someone goes to jail for a plant.

cops and drugs...

I am glad to see orgs like Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, where officers, some of them very senior, very experienced, get to tell the truth about their involvement with drugs and the law; they know the score. They know Prohibition is the killer here.

Cops R the most corrupt and biggest thugs around!

I live in OC CA...Cops here are such pigs! Biggest assholes U will ever meet...Then U go to LA, and they are way more chill..WTF...

2 cops that worked at OC jail when I was in got busted for drugging and raping inmates girlfriends...

Protect and serve...Who are they providing that service to??? No one I know!!!!!!!!!!!

Mike

Thank you

Margarita Crispin for allowing tons of herb into this country. Though you may have been bribed, you helped us get stoned for the past few years and we respect you for that :-)

Post new comment

  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <img> <i> <blockquote> <p> <address> <pre> <h1> <h2> <h3> <h4> <h5> <h6> <br>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • You may post code using <code>...</code> (generic) or <?php ... ?> (highlighted PHP) tags.
  • Web and e-mail addresses are automatically converted into links.
More information about formatting options Captcha Image: you will need to recognize the text in it.
Please type in the letters/numbers that are shown in the image above.