SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Sept. 29 (UPI) — The Department of Justice announced Tuesday the indictment of 10 Puerto Rico police officers for allegedly running a criminal organization from a police department.
The officers used their status as law enforcement to “make money through robbery, extortion, manipulating court records and selling illegal narcotics,” the Justice Department said in a statement.
The indictment was returned by a grand jury in Puerto Rico on Thursday. The defendants are charged with conspiring to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, Act and some of the defendants are charged with extortion under color of official right, narcotics trafficking, civil rights violations and false statements made to federal agents.