Twenty people, including at least 14 law enforcement officers, across the Mississippi Delta and Tennessee were arrested on Thursday by the FBI in a drug conspiracy takedown after a sprawling years-long investigation, federal authorities announced, according to newsfromthestates.com
“We’re talking about 14 current or former law enforcement officers, six co-conspirators, who are alleged to have sold out the public, promoted crimes that they should have been investigating and stopped, and instead of working to stem the flow of dangerous controlled substances, the evidence will show they took bribes to facilitate the distribution of controlled substances,” said Andrew Bailey, FBI co-director. “They betrayed the trust that the public placed in them, disgraced the badge, and undermined the hard work of good law enforcement officers across the state and across the region.”
The investigation and alleged police corruption spanned counties across the Delta and stretched into Memphis, Tennessee, where some of the officers are alleged to have accepted bribes in exchange for providing protection to undercover FBI agents posing as members of a Mexican drug cartel. On three occasions between 2023 and 2024, the officers escorted the undercover agents transporting cocaine through the rural Delta along Highway 61 and into Memphis, court records allege.
Of the 20 individuals charged, 19 are accused of illegally carrying a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime. The charges, which are outlined across multiple indictments.
