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Cop Arrested for Robbing Drug Traffickers with In-Laws
By
John Del Signore
Published May 7, 2010
Modified May 7, 2010
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By
John Del Signore
Published May 7, 2010
Modified May 7, 2010
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A eight-year veteran of the NYPD was arrested yesterday for allegedly conspiring with a robbery crew that posed as cops to raid drug traffickers' homes, netting $1 million in drug proceeds and more than 250 kilos of cocaine from over 100 robberies. Long Island's Emmanuel Tavarez, 30, joined the NYPD in 2002 and spent most of his time in the Transit Bureau. But it was his side gig that really made it rain.
In 2001, robbery crew members—none of them cops except for Tavarez—began posing as police officers and hitting drug traffickers, using fake arrest and search warrants, and then forcibly taking drugs and money from the traffickers, prosecutors say. On more than one occasion, Tavarez gave crew members his police utility belt, holster, firearm and bullet-proof vest to crew members for use in the phony raids.
The scheme worked like a charm for seven years, until March 2008, when a sting operation in Queens turned up real and fake NYPD paraphernalia, including Miranda warning cards and a vehicle modified to look like a cop car. Arrests were made, but investigators didn't connect the crew to Tavarez until August 2009, at which point they placed him on modified assignment, stripped him of his gun and badge and sent him to watch surveillance camera footage at a public housing complex in Queens.
At least four members of the robbery crew are in-laws of Tavarez, and the feds say it's unclear when Tavarez got involved—the crew may have existed before he joined the NYPD. Some 15 members have been charged in the robberies, and at least five have pleaded guilty; Tavarez faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted on charges of conspiracy to commit robbery, conspiracy to distribute drugs and use of firearms in a crime.
Tagged
bad cop
crime
drug dealers
drugs
Emmanuel Tavarez
nypd
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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