cannabisnews.com: Miami-Dade Officers Charged With Planting Evidence





Miami-Dade Officers Charged With Planting Evidence
Posted by FoM on August 17, 1999 at 15:00:41 PT
Source: MSNBC
Four Miami-Dade police officers are under arrest on charges an attorney for one of them says are outrageous. They are accused of planting the drugs they used to make an arrest of their own. This comes just one week after a veteran officer was charged in a major drug ring.
It is a charge drug defendants often make against officers arresting them– that the evidence was planted and they did nothing wrong. Now all four officers are off the job.     Sgt. Jose Diaz and officers Hector Llevat, Andre Vaughn and Florencio Boucourt are part of the narcotics division. According to a statement released late Monday by the State Attorney’s Office, last year the four stopped two women who were carrying marijuana and Rohypnol. The officers traced the drugs back to an apartment in South Dade, then allegedly planted those drugs in that apartment under a mattress. They then arrested four people for drug possession.   An attorney for Detective Boucourt says the suspects arrested in the apartment are lying and trying to point the finger at the officers. Attorney Richard Sharpstein calls the case “outrageous...this is a complete and utter fantasy by a group of druggies.” Officer Luis Lopez was arrested last week on drug charges.     Just last week, there was more trouble for the Miami-Dade Police Department. Two cops sworn to protect our streets were accused of helping infuse them with drugs. Detectives arrested nine-year veteran Luis Lopez last Thursday. That was following the April arrest of fellow officer John Lakatis.  Both were arrested in the investigation of a major Miami-based drug ring involving thousands of kilos of cocaine. Affidavits accuse Lopez and Lakatis of assisting the drug ring and providing protection using marked Miami-Dade police cars.  The four officers in this latest case are suspended, awaiting their trial. They are charged with official misconduct, perjury and false imprisonment.U.S. busts drug smuggling ring Scores arrested in 14 cities across nation http://www.msnbc.com/news/301552.asphttp://www.nbc6.wtvj.com/Pubdate: August 17, 1999
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