Post by WaTcHeR on Apr 20, 2006 12:17:13 GMT -5
04/20/2006 - EDINBURG — An on-duty police officer was arrested before dawn Wednesday in connection with a federal drug investigation, as five of his brothers were apprehended at homes throughout the Hidalgo County.
Officer Jesus Mesa, 28, was arrested at 4 a.m. while he worked at the Edinburg jail.
At the same time, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers, and Mission and Edinburg police, helped Drug Enforcement Agency agents arrest five of Mesa’s brothers in connection with unknown drug charges. The other brothers’ names were not available.
Edinburg and Mission police referred all questions about the investigation to the DEA.
The DEA, in turn, would not confirm the arrests, but it forwarded questions to the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of Texas in Houston — an office that would only be involved if there was an open investigation. Calls to the U.S. Attorney’s office were not returned.
Edinburg Police Chief Quirino Muñoz said Mesa, who has been a city cop for more than a year, was arrested without incident and placed in federal custody. No other arrests of Edinburg police were planned, Muñoz said.
Some speculated the charges against Mesa may be part of a DEA strategy to persuade Mesa to give information against his brothers.
Mesa’s family hired Fernando Mancias, former 93rd state district judge, to defend the police officer after he appeared before a magistrate in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas Wednesday afternoon.
Mancias, who was not hired to represent the other brothers, met with Mesa Wednesday afternoon. He did not know exactly with what Mancias had been charged and was not even clear who in the family had hired him.
“All I can tell you is that the charges are related to drug offenses,” Mancias said. “I understand it is for possession with intention to distribute a controlled substance.”
Mancias plans to meet with his client and the U.S. Attorney’s office today to review charges and the probable cause affidavit.
“I haven’t seen anything yet,” Mancias said. “It is really too early to evaluate the case.”
The Edinburg Police Department has launched an administrative investigation and Muñoz says it would most likely end in Mesa’s firing.
“This is the type of profession that the action of one officer affects all of them,” Muñoz said. “It’s disturbing and disappointing.”
Local authorities, though, did not believe Mesa’s arrest was related to his work as a police officer or detention officer.
Edinburg police union president Lt. Roberto Alvarez said Mesa was known as good cop in the department.
But the union would not become involved, since Mesa is not a union member, and there is not much the union can do anyway when it comes to federal cases, Alvarez said.
“The officers were extremely shocked,” he said. “We don’t believe it has anything to do with his work as a police officer.”
Bond will be set at a detention hearing Monday at the U.S. District Court, Mancias said. It may not be until at least then that the charges and scope of the investigation are revealed in court documents.
Officer Jesus Mesa, 28, was arrested at 4 a.m. while he worked at the Edinburg jail.
At the same time, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers, and Mission and Edinburg police, helped Drug Enforcement Agency agents arrest five of Mesa’s brothers in connection with unknown drug charges. The other brothers’ names were not available.
Edinburg and Mission police referred all questions about the investigation to the DEA.
The DEA, in turn, would not confirm the arrests, but it forwarded questions to the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of Texas in Houston — an office that would only be involved if there was an open investigation. Calls to the U.S. Attorney’s office were not returned.
Edinburg Police Chief Quirino Muñoz said Mesa, who has been a city cop for more than a year, was arrested without incident and placed in federal custody. No other arrests of Edinburg police were planned, Muñoz said.
Some speculated the charges against Mesa may be part of a DEA strategy to persuade Mesa to give information against his brothers.
Mesa’s family hired Fernando Mancias, former 93rd state district judge, to defend the police officer after he appeared before a magistrate in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas Wednesday afternoon.
Mancias, who was not hired to represent the other brothers, met with Mesa Wednesday afternoon. He did not know exactly with what Mancias had been charged and was not even clear who in the family had hired him.
“All I can tell you is that the charges are related to drug offenses,” Mancias said. “I understand it is for possession with intention to distribute a controlled substance.”
Mancias plans to meet with his client and the U.S. Attorney’s office today to review charges and the probable cause affidavit.
“I haven’t seen anything yet,” Mancias said. “It is really too early to evaluate the case.”
The Edinburg Police Department has launched an administrative investigation and Muñoz says it would most likely end in Mesa’s firing.
“This is the type of profession that the action of one officer affects all of them,” Muñoz said. “It’s disturbing and disappointing.”
Local authorities, though, did not believe Mesa’s arrest was related to his work as a police officer or detention officer.
Edinburg police union president Lt. Roberto Alvarez said Mesa was known as good cop in the department.
But the union would not become involved, since Mesa is not a union member, and there is not much the union can do anyway when it comes to federal cases, Alvarez said.
“The officers were extremely shocked,” he said. “We don’t believe it has anything to do with his work as a police officer.”
Bond will be set at a detention hearing Monday at the U.S. District Court, Mancias said. It may not be until at least then that the charges and scope of the investigation are revealed in court documents.