Thursday, 4:30 PM
Boston officers accused of 'selling badges' to drug dealers
By Suzanne Smalley and Shelley Murphy, Globe Staff
Three Boston police officers are accused of "selling their badges" to drug traffickers in a far-reaching corruption case that includes charges of identity fraud, money laundering and illegal after-hours parties involving prostitutes, law enforcement officials said today.
Federal agents arrested Roberto Pulido, 41, Nelson Carrasquillo, 35, and Carlos Pizarro, 36, Thursday night in Miami, where they allegedly went to get a $35,000 payment for protecting a drug shipment from Western Massachusetts to Boston, officials said. The people they met were really undercover FBI agents as part of a sting that also took place in Atlantic City and Boston, officials said.
The officers are each charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 100 kilograms of cocaine.
The Associated Press reported that all three officers appeared briefly this afternoon in court in Miami but did not enter pleas. A judge ordered that they be held pending a detention hearing Wednesday and said lawyers would be appointed to handle their legal proceedings in Florida. An Aug. 2 hearing in Miami has been set for their removal to Boston.
Pulido, the alleged ringleader, is accused of running a criminal enterprise that prosecutors allege included framing a former business partner on drug and gun charges, insurance fraud, illegal alien smuggling and importing steroids. The corruption probe could extend beyond the three officers as Pulido implicated others in the Boston Police Department during the sting, according to the affidavit.
"The allegations in the complaint reveal an extraordinary breadth of criminal activity by at least one officer and a willingness of other officers to join him in selling their badges to drug dealers," US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan said at a press conference, adding that officers would face additional charges.
Pulido came to the attention of federal authorities in Novembers 2003 when investigators alleged he ran a gift card scheme, according to the affidavit filed with the criminal complaint.
Prosecutors allege that in April 2006 undercover agents posing as drug traffickers paid Pulido and Carrasquillo $20,000 to protect a 40 kilogram shipment of cocaine. The sale, which was actually from one FBI undercover group to another, took place in a garage in Jamaica Plain run by Pulido, according to the affidavit.
A second FBI sting in June also involved Pizarro, who prosecutors allege was lead to believe he was helping Pulido and Carrasquillo protect a 100 kilogram shipment of cocaine for $50,000. On June 8, the three officers escorted a truck from western Massachusetts to Boston which investigators say they believed contained the drugs. Prosecutors allege that during the shipment Pulido monitored Boston police radio traffic while Carrasquillo and Pizarro provided a security.
According to the affidavit, Pulido received a $15,000 down payment for their services in June. Investigators allege that the $35,000 balance was to be paid off at a “celebratory” meeting in Miami.
Prosecutors said that the three officers traveled to South Florida this week to collect their money and plan their next “operation,” which supposedly involved 500 kilograms of cocaine. Instead, they were arrested Thursday night by federal agents.
