MILITARY, LAW OFFICERS ARE CAUGHT IN FBI

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MILITARY, LAW OFFICERS ARE CAUGHT IN FBI DRUG STING


TUCSON, Ariz (AP) FBI agents posing as cocaine traffickers in Arizona caught 16 current and former U.S. soldiers and law enforcement personnel who took about $220,000 in bribes to help move the drugs through checkpoints, Justice Department officials said Thursday.


Those charged include a former Immigration and Naturalization Service inspector, a former Army sergeant, a former federal prison guard, current and former members of the Arizona Army National Guard and the state corrections department, and a Nogales police officer, officials said.


"Many individuals charged were sworn personnel having the task of protecting society and securing America's borders. The importance of these tasks cannot be overstated and we cannot tolerate, nor can the American people afford, this type of dereliction," FBI agent Jana D. Monroe, who directs the bureau's operations in Arizona, said during a news conference in Tucson.