Oct. 22 (UPI) — A New York Police Department officer has been arrested for allegedly dealing narcotics.
Grace Rose Baez, 27, and her boyfriend Cesar Martinez, 43, were arrested on charges relating to the distribution of narcotics. Baez had been employed with the police department since 2012.
The investigation into Baez began in 2020 after she was accused of misconduct.
Investigators found that Baez took part in selling and negotiating the sale of kilogram quantities of narcotics, at times doing so while she was on duty.
“Grace Rosa Baez took an oath to protect and serve the people of New York City,” U.S. District Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. “As alleged, she flagrantly violated that oath by pushing poison, including fentanyl and heroin, which are driving the nation’s deadly opioid crisis and have been responsible for thousands of tragic deaths in this city and around the nation.”
The press release from the Justice Department says Baez and Martinez discussed distributing narcotics with a police informant on numerous occasions earlier this month. They offered to sell fentanyl, heroin and cocaine.
Baez at one point said she could sell 2 kilograms of fentanyl for $30,000 each. Baez later met with the informant and gave them a plastic Mentos container with a sample of fentanyl inside.
Investigators found a kilogram press machine and narcotics at Baez and Martinez’s home after they were arrested.
The couple faces a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum life sentence.