MIAMI
Sgt. Andres Quintanilla, 33, of Miami Springs Police Department, allegedly accepted bribes from drug dealer to help him run his narcotics business.
Quintanilla is charged with attempting to affect commerce by extortion under color of official right.
He is facing up to 20 years in prison, according to authorities.
According to the allegations contained in the complaint, this is what happened:
In September 2014, an FBI confidential source or CS informed Quintanilla that he was a drug trafficker. Rather than arrest the CS, or open an investigation, Quintanilla offered to help the CS’s drug trafficking business.
During a series of recorded meetings, Quintanilla allegedly offered advice on how the CS should run his drug trafficking business, provided the location of an unmarked Miami Dade Police Department narcotics office, provided the names of three Miami Dade Police Department officers, and promised to provide photographs of officers in the future.
In addition, Quintanilla ran the name of a purported drug dealer in a law enforcement database when asked to do so by CS.
By December 2014, Quintanilla had agreed to act as an escort during a purported 10 kilogram cocaine deal.
Under FBI direction, the CS told Quintanilla that the CS needed a safe location in Miami Springs where the CS could exchange 10 kilograms of cocaine for $250,000.
Quintanilla chose a location for the transaction to take place and, on the date of the transaction, the FBI filmed and recorded Quintanilla meeting with the CS and viewing the cocaine.
After the purported deal took place with a second undercover CS acting as a drug dealer, Quintanilla then followed the CS’s vehicle to an express package service center, where Quintanilla believed that the CS would ship the $250,000 of drug proceeds to New York.
Quintanilla participated in the transaction in uniform, while driving his police marked vehicle.
In exchange for his assistance, Quintanilla accepted $3,500 in bribe payments, officials said.
The complaint further alleges that in April 2015, FBI agents approached Quintanilla at his residence to discuss his involvement in the trafficking of narcotics.
During an interview, Quintanilla admitted receiving bribes in return for assisting the CHS’s drug trafficking business.