Laredo Cop Busted for Taking Bribes from Cocaine Smuggler After FBI/DEA Investigation

A Laredo grand jury indicted local Webb County Deputy Constable Eduardo Garcia this week for taking bribes. This was announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Houston, and it was the result of a continued investigation into cops gone bad by a joint task force of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Lots of Strange Things Gone On This Summer in Laredo. And By Strange, We Mean Illegal

Laredo must be an interesting place this summer, right? Feds roaming around looking for evildoing. Military helicopters from Mexico landing on U.S. airstrips by mistake. Mexican troops crossing the Tex-Mex border bridge into Laredo by mistake.

Bribing the Deputy Was Smooth Sailing Until the Guy Turned FBI Informant

Deputy Constable Garcia had been on the take for awhile, it seems. He would pocket cash in exchange for providing police protection to vehicles carrying cocaine across the border, from Mexico into the United States, through the Laredo crossing point. It was sort of routine, apparently, for Garcia and things were smooth enough for him until the guy who paid him for the help turned federal informant.

Feds Set Up Sting to Catch the Deputy

After the informant gave up Garcia to the feds, the games began. According to the grand jury indictment, Garcia was caught after he took $500 to protect a vehicle that he thought was moving cocaine through Laredo, though it reality the car was carrying fake drugs.

He did this twice.

During the sting, Garcia was allegedly asked to check out the license plate of a car that was worrisome to the informant, and sure enough, Garcia jumped onto his official police database where he confirmed it might be a federal agency vehicle.

After playing with the deputy like a cat plays with a mouse, the feds busted him and took their case to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Laredo Grand Jury. End of story for Eduardo Garcia.

Webb County Deputy Faces 3 Counts of Extortion, 1 Count of Unauthorized Access

Eduardo Garcia had been a member of law enforcement since 1993. He spent many years driving a prison transport van.

Now, he faces 3 counts of extortion under color of official right and 1 count of unauthorized access to protected computer information — and the high probability that he’ll soon be riding in the back of that prison van he drove for so many years.