DEA Arrests El Paso Cop Accused of Helping Drug Dealer

Federal authorities arrested a police officer from the Texas border city of El Paso for allegedly helping a local drug distributor. The police officer stands accused of carrying out countersurveillance operations and leaking license plates of undercover vehicles to the alleged drug dealer.

On Friday morning, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and El Paso Police Department arrested 23-year-old Monica Garcia, a local police officer who allegedly helped a local drug dealer continue his operations. While Garcia’s criminal charges remain under seal, information released by the U.S. Department of Justice revealed that she had been reportedly helping 44-year-old Fred Saenz with his alleged drug dealing business by leaking license plate information and helping him with counter-surveillance.

The case began in August when El Paso Police and the DEA began investigating Saenz who is accused of running a local cocaine distribution operation, the criminal complaint filed in his case revealed. After several months of surveillance, and undercover buys of cocaine, authorities raided two homes tied to Saenz where they seized $14,500 in cash and three pounds of cocaine. The court case against Saenz continues to have redacted names and it remains unclear if there are other suspects in addition to Garcia tied to the case.

According to the DOJ, Garcia could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted for leaking information and helping Saenz protect his drug trafficking operation. Court documents did not reveal if Saenz is directly connected to one of the Mexican drug cartels that operate just south of El Paso such as La Linea from the Juarez Cartel or one of the factions of the Sinaloa Cartel.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.