The Justice Department said in a press release that the arrests are the result of Operation Guard Shack, the largest police corruption investigation in the history of the FBI. Nearly 750 FBI agents were flown into Puerto Rico from across the country to assist in the arrests.
The suspects include 60 members of the Puerto Rico Police Department (PRPD), 16 from municipal police departments and 12 officers from the Puerto Rico Corrections Department, as well as National Guard and Army soldiers, administrative officials and civilians.
The indictments are the result of 125 undercover drug transactions conducted by FBI agents.
“The defendants’ participation in the drug transactions consisted of providing armed protection to a drug dealer during the sale of multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine,” the DOJ release said. “In exchange for their security services during the undercover drug transactions, the defendants, a majority of whom are law enforcement officers, received payments ranging from $500 to $4,500 per transaction.”
Puerto Rico: Big FBI raid on police
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