South Texas police officer arrested for conspiracy to traffic cocaine
Law enforcement officer is a member of the Starr County HIDTA Task Force
MCALLEN, Texas — A south Texas police officer and his alleged accomplice were arrested and charged Monday with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine.
These charges were announced by U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson, Southern District of Texas. This investigation is being conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), in conjunction with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), the FBI, and the Texas Rangers.
Noel Pena, 29, a Rio Grande City (Texas) Police Department investigator, and Hector Salinas-Hinojosa, 21, of Roma, Texas, were arrested April 17. Both defendants will remain in custody pending a detention hearing set for April 23 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dorina Ramos.
“These arrests illustrate the ability of law enforcement agencies to leverage their individual resources to work together and achieve justice,” said Mark Dawson, deputy special agent in charge of HSI San Antonio. “HSI and our law enforcement partners are committed to keeping our communities safe by conducting robust joint investigations, and following those investigations wherever they lead.”
According to the criminal complaint, Pena and Salinas-Hinojosa conspired to provide a ‘fake’ police report to an undercover officer who was acting as a cocaine trafficker. The undercover “cocaine trafficker” claimed to need assistance to steal the majority of a 10-kilogram cocaine load he was holding for the drug cartels. On April 9, Salinas-Hinojosa and Pena met with the undercover officer and agreed to provide the ‘fake’ police report to make it appear that 10 kilograms of cocaine had been seized by law enforcement, according to the charges. In exchange, they were allegedly supposed to be paid $10,000. The complaint alleges that at the time of the meeting, the undercover officer provided $5,000 as a down payment for the report.
The scheme alleged in the complaint involved Pena, as an investigator assigned to the Starr County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, being tipped off to the location of the cocaine. He would then stage a law enforcement operation.
On April 11, two kilograms of cocaine was left at a stash house location in Garceno, Texas. After being tipped off to the location, Pena allegedly proceeded to the residence and ‘found’ the cocaine and then obtained a search warrant to seize it. Subsequently, on April 17 Salinas-Hinojosa provided the ‘fake report’ to the undercover officer and was paid the remaining $5,000.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Juan F. Alanis and Ted Imperato, Southern District of Texas, are prosecuting this case.
A criminal complaint is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.
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