Fourteen current and former law-enforcement officers are among 20 defendants charged in Mississippi and Tennessee with accepting bribes from drug traffickers for police protection in what officials called “a monumental betrayal of public trust”.
The arrests follow a years-long investigation by federal agents who posed as narcotics dealers. Two of the defendants were Mississippi sheriffs.
Federal officials set up the sting after hearing complaints from real drug traffickers about having to pay bribes to officers.
The bribery network allegedly extended beyond the Mississippi Delta region into Memphis, Tennessee, and Miami, Florida.
“The original complaints that began the investigation were from drug dealers,” US Attorney Clay Joyner for the Northern District of Mississippi told a news conference on Thursday.
Unbeknown to the officers, the drug dealers this time were US federal agents and the narcotics, which the defendants allegedly believed to be 25kg (55lb) of cocaine, were fake.
“We did what we did to close the circle and determine if they were doing this or not,” he said.
Some of the officers had received bribes of $20,000 (£15,000) and $30,000, he added.
FBI deputy director Andrew Bailey said the accused officers “sold out the public” with their alleged conduct.
“They betrayed the trust that the public placed in them, disgraced the badge and undermined the hard work of good law enforcement officers across this state and region,” Bailey told a news conference.
The arrests come as US officials have embarked on air strikes in South America against alleged drug traffickers.
