Baltimore Police Rocked By Drug Dealing Scandal (1864 hits)
The beleaguered Baltimore City Police Department is reeling again after discovering yet another one of its officers has been indicted for operating outside of the laws they were sworn to uphold.
Early last week, veteran officer Daniel Redd, 41, was taken into custody at the Northwest District police station where he worked and charged for allegedly operating a “significant” heroin distribution ring. And according to the seven-count federal indictment against him and others, Redd, on more than one occasion, conducted drug transactions in the parking lot of his own police station.
The officer is also charged with three counts of use of a firearm while drug dealing. The indictment against Redd is just the latest incident that has forced Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld III to defend the department he leads. “The allegations against Daniel Redd are an affront to and undermine the integrity of the hard-working men and women of the Baltimore Police Department,” Bealefeld said in a statement. “We will not tolerate corruption among our ranks.”
The Baltimore Sun reported that Redd had been under suspicion for years by the department, but within the last six months, police had requested the FBI to investigate. “The allegations in the indictment and the affidavit are that Officer Redd was the central participant in the conspiracy,” said U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein to a gathering of reporters on Tuesday.
According to the indictment, much of the evidence gathered against Redd was obtained from cell phone conversations beginning in March of this year, and investigators indicate Redd’s police radio can be heard in the background during some of those calls. “They discussed how and where to distribute drugs,” Rosenstein revealed. “There are allegedly references in those conversations to Officer Redd engaging in drug dealing while on duty and while in uniform."
Court documents indicate Redd ran the drug operation with a man named Abdul Zakaria, also known as Tamim Mamah. Records show Zakaria, 34, and others obtained heroin from suppliers in Africa and distributed it to Redd and two other men: Malik Jones, 40, and Dyrell Garrett, 33. Shanel Stallings, 32, who is also named in the indictment, is accused of receiving heroin from Redd. All of those named in the indictment have Maryland residences.
According to the indictment on March 2, Redd made arrangements for a drug transaction to take place “at the district,” referring to the Northwest District police station, according to officials. And on March 31, Redd told Mamah to meet him “at my station.” Baltimore Police spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi told WBAL- TV, Baltimore’s NBC affiliate, “It’s a black eye for the police department, but the silver lining is that an individual who is potentially committing some egregious acts and really jeopardizing the trust that we work very hard to gain with the community is now facing a federal judge,” he said.
