FBI charges 133 in its biggest crackdown ever on corrupt cops

(CNN) -- In the biggest crackdown on police corruption in the 102-year history of the FBI, authorities charged a total of 133 individuals in Puerto Rico Wednesday in a probe of how police provided protection to cocaine dealers.
All but four, who were still being sought, were arrested Wednesday, authorities said.

In all, 89 law enforcement officers and 44 other people were arrested as part of a two-year undercover investigation into 125 drug transactions totaling $500,000, authorities said. The drug deals involved amounts ranging from $500 to $4,500, officials said.

The scope of Operation Guard Shack was also described as unprecedented because 750 FBI personnel were flown to the island to carry out the raids and make arrests, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

Puerto Rico is a major shipping point for drugs between the East Coast and such South American countries as Colombia and Peru, said Rosa Emilia Rodriguez-Velez, the U.S. attorney for Puerto Rico.

She described the corruption as limited to a relatively small number of officers "who wanted to make a fast buck...and needed the money."
The 133 defendants have been charged in 26 indictments with charges that include conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine, attempt to possess with intent to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine, and use of a firearm during the commission of a drug trafficking offense.

A grand jury in Puerto Rico returned the indictments last month, and they were unsealed Wednesday, officials said.

Arrested were 60 members of the Puerto Rico Police Department, 16 members of various local police departments, 12 correctional officers, eight former law officers, three National Guard soldiers, two U.S. Army officers, one administrative examiner in child support matters, one Social Security Administration employee and 30 other civilians.

"Public corruption does not just strike at the heart of good government. It also jeopardizes the security of our communities and our nation," Shawn Henry, FBI executive assistant director, said in a statement.
If convicted, the defendants face sentences ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/10/06/puerto.rico.arrests/index.html?hpt=T1

Nothing surprising but.....damn.