Originally Posted - July 24, 2006

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BOSTON-- Three veteran Boston Police Department officers have been charged in federal court with conspiring to possess with intent to distribute 100 kilograms of cocaine. The men were arrested in Miami, Florida late Sunday where they went to receive a $35,000 payment for protecting a Massachusetts drug shipment as part of an FBI undercover sting operation.

Roberto "Kiko" Pulido, 41, of 57 Leighton Road in Boston, Carlos A. Pizarro, 36, of 8 Lenoxdale Avenue in Boston, and Nelson Carrasquillo, 35, of 101 Gallivan Boulevard in Boston, were charged in a federal complaint with conspiring to possess with intent to distribute 100 kilograms of cocaine. Pulido and Piazarro have been officers with the Boston Police Department since 1996 and Carrasquillo since 1999. Both Pulido and Carrasquillo are currently assigned to the Special Operations Division, Mobile Operations Patrol. Pizarro is a patrol officer in Area D-4 (South End).

"This investigation and the arrests are the result of a cooperative effort by the FBI, BPD, and the U.S. Attorney's Office," said U.S. Attorney Michael J. Sullivan. "The allegations in the complaint reveal an extraordinary breadth of criminal activity by at least one officer, and a willingness of other officers to join him in selling their badges to drug dealers. This has been a painstaking investigation over more than two years, lead by a dedicated team of FBI agents working in close cooperation with the BPD and the U.S. Attorney's Office. All of us in law enforcement are committed to investigating and expending the resources necessary to prosecuting corruption wherever we find it."

According to an affidavit filed in support of the complaint, it is alleged that Pulido came under federal scrutiny in November 2003 when it was discovered that he engaged in a scheme to buy and distribute retail store gift cards, which had been obtained by an identity theft ring. Over the course of a two and one-half year investigation, agents from the FBI, working in cooperation with the Boston Police Department's Anti-Corruption Squad, allegedly discovered that Pulido routinely engaged in a wide range of criminal activities including identity theft; drug dealing; sponsoring and protecting illegal after-hours parties at which prostitutes routinely worked; framing a former business partner on gun and drug charges; robbery; threats; insurance fraud; money laundering; illegal alien smuggling; and trafficking in stolen goods. It is alleged that both Pizarro and Carrasquillo joined in some of this illegal conduct.

According to the affidavit, in December 2005, the FBI developed an undercover sting operation aimed at revealing the extent of Pulido's criminal contacts within the BPD. As part of that undercover operation which took place in Boston, Atlantic City, NJ, and Miami, Fla. In April 2006, Pukido and Carrasquillo were paid $20,000 to provide protection for the sale of 40 kilograms of cocaine. The sale, which they agreed to protect from detection by the BPD, was actually from one FBI undercover group to another. It is alleged that the sale took place in a garage in Jamaica Plain operated by Pulido.

According to the affidavit, a second sting operation took place in early June 2006. In this operation, Pulido and Carrasquillo were joined by Pizzaro allegedly protecting the transport and sale of what they believed to be 100 kilograms of cocaine. It is alleged that on June 8, the three officers escorted a truck they believed to be carrying 100 kilograms of cocaine from western Massachusetts to Boston, and oversaw and protected the transfer of the narcotics at Pulido's garage in Jamaica Plain. During the transfer, it is alleged that Pulido was actively monitoring the BPD radio traffic while Carrasquillo and Pizarro escorted the drug transport vehicles and provided perimeter security. That day, Pulido was paid a $15,000 down payment for the police protection provided by himself, Carrasquillo and Pizarro. The remainder, $35,000, was to be paid in a celebratory meeting scheduled to take place in Miami.

The trio traveled to Miami to meet with the undercover agents to receive the additional $35,000 owed to them for protecting the June shipment, and to plan the next operation. It is alleged that preliminary discussions for the third operation revealed that it was to involve as much as 500 kilograms of cocaine.

If convicted, the three men each face a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years in prison up to a maximum of life, and a $4 million fine. 7-24-06

© 2006 North Country Gazette