MCALLEN, Texas (AP) - A South Texas police investigator assigned to a drug task force has been arrested in a conspiracy to traffic cocaine.
Federal prosecutors say 29-year-old Noel Pena was arrested Saturday on a charge of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. He didn’t have an attorney at present at his initial appearance Monday. He’ll remain in custody pending a Thursday detention hearing.
Pena was a Rio Grande City police investigator assigned to the Starr County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force. He was fired Saturday.
The criminal complaint alleges Pena and a co-defendant conspired to provide a fake police report to an undercover officer acting as a cocaine trafficker. The agent posing as a cocaine trafficker said he needed help stealing cocaine he was holding for the cartels.
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