A Total of 14 Law Enforcement Officers Including 20 Arrested in the State of Mississippi Narcotics Corruption Operation

A group of 14 serving and previous police personnel are part of 20 defendants arrested in the states of Mississippi and Tennessee for accepting bribes from narcotics dealers in exchange for law enforcement cover, in what authorities described as "a monumental betrayal of the community's confidence".

These apprehensions come after a years-long investigation by federal agents who acted as drug sellers. Two of the defendants were county sheriffs from Mississippi.

National authorities initiated the sting after receiving complaints from actual narcotics criminals about having to pay corrupt payments to police members.

The bribery network allegedly extended beyond the Delta area of Mississippi into Memphis, Tennessee, and Miami in Florida.

"The original complaints that started the inquiry were from drug dealers," a federal prosecutor announced during a press briefing on the day of the announcement.

Some of the officers had accepted bribes ranging from $20,000 (£15,000) and $37,000, the prosecutor added.

The sting involved undercover federal agents acting as narcotics sellers with fake narcotics, which the defendants reportedly thought to be 25 kilograms (55 pounds) of cocaine.

"They betrayed the community," declared a senior FBI official. "They betrayed the trust that the public placed in them, disgraced the badge and weakened the efforts of honest police members across this state and region."

These detentions take place as U.S. officials have begun aerial attacks in South America against suspected narcotics criminals.