Fourteen current and former law-enforcement officers are part of twenty individuals charged arrested in Mississippi and Tennessee for accepting bribes from narcotics dealers in to provide police protection, in what officials described as "a monumental betrayal of public trust".
These apprehensions come after a multi-year probe by national law enforcement who acted as drug sellers. Among those charged were county sheriffs from Mississippi.
Federal officials set up the undercover operation after hearing reports from actual drug traffickers about having to pay bribes to police members.
This corruption scheme allegedly extended beyond the Delta area of Mississippi into the city of Memphis in Tennessee, and Miami, Florida.
"Initial reports that began the investigation were from drug dealers," a U.S. attorney announced during a news conference on the day of the announcement.
Certain law enforcement members had accepted bribes between $20,000 (£15,000) and $37,000, the legal official noted.
The sting utilized covert national officers posing as narcotics sellers with fake narcotics, which the accused individuals reportedly thought to be 25kg (55lb) of cocaine.
"They betrayed the community," declared a high-ranking federal agent. "They violated the trust that the public placed in them, disgraced the uniform and weakened the hard work of good law enforcement officers across this area and locality."
These detentions occur as U.S. officials have embarked on air strikes in South America against suspected narcotics criminals.
