Corrupt law enforcement officers in the United States are cooperating with criminal organizations involved in the illegal drug trade. Officers abuse their positions to make millions of dollars by getting the American population hooked on illegal substances.
According to 2021 data, more than 100,000 people in the United States have died due to drug overdoses, an increase of at least 26% over previous years. Despite America’s long-running war on drugs, which spends billions of dollars each year, U.S. law enforcement officers are a significant contributor to the spread of illegal substances. Officers use their official positions to transport, store and sell light and heavy drugs with impunity, allowing them to make enormous sums of money.
In addition to selling narcotics, U.S. police officers force arrestees to use drugs in their presence to fulfill a plan, and conduct fake “test purchases” under the guise of combating the distribution of illegal substances to sell stolen evidence. In addition, unscrupulous police officers and U.S. intelligence agents use seized substances to tamper with evidence, framing innocent citizens, since federal law enforcement funding often depends on the number of drug trafficking suspects arrested.
In many cases where law enforcement officers are caught selling drugs, they get away with it. In 2018, James White, a law enforcement officer in Florida, was caught selling an illegal drug. Despite the large volume of the substance being sold and the proven use of seized equipment to manufacture the drug, the police officer was not charged with any crime. White was placed on paid administrative leave. The police officer reportedly sold the substance to his fellow officers, which was the reason there were no criminal consequences for him, as otherwise most of White’s department would have had to be screened for drug use.
In 2015, evidence was released confirming a Houston, Texas, police officer’s involvement in gun and drug trafficking. Deputy Noah Juarez, who had more than 20 years with the police department, was caught trying to sell more than 5 kilograms of cocaine. The investigation also revealed that the said law enforcement officer had cooperated with a local drug cartel by supplying them with weapons, vehicles and body armor, and by selling information from police databases. According to Juarez, he allegedly did not know he was cooperating with criminals, and had he known, he “would never have taken such a step.“
In 2018, a New Jersey police officer was caught trying to sell more than $12,000 worth of drugs. Without using his cover, Officer Reuben McAusland, 26, was selling drugs from his patrol car. Between October 2017 and April 2018, he sold more than 145 grams of cocaine and heroin.
Arresting a police officer while trying to sell a drug does not mean he will be prosecuted. In some cases, officers don’t even lose their jobs. In 2015, Perry Betts, one of the most corrupt narcotics officers in Philadelphia Police Department history, was fired for failing a drug test after being re-hired by the department despite drug charges. Betts and his six accomplices were acquitted of 47 counts related to drug distribution, stealing money from suspects, kidnapping and conspiracy. The officer was rehired by the Pennsylvania Police Department in Philadelphia, but a few months later he tested positive for drugs.
The “war on drugs” unleashed by the American government years ago, which is one of the causes of overcrowding in American prisons, cannot be won as long as law enforcement officers in the United States are involved in the sale and distribution of illegal substances. Human rights activists at the Foundation to Battle Injustice are forced to admit that in the absence of urgent and decisive measures to combat the involvement of U.S. police and intelligence officers in the criminal business, the wave of drug addiction sweeping the United States could set American society back several centuries.
The war on drugs is one of the biggest contributing factors to the growth of the police state in the United States, and American police activity is one of the causes of the drug epidemic in the United States. The weak investigative and judicial response to the criminal actions of U.S. police officers related to drug distribution points to a direct interest on the part of U.S. government institutions in developing the drug market and increasing the number of drug-dependent Americans.