It started two weeks ago with an informant’s tip: Two Philadelphia cops had become too cozy with a drug dealer, says the Philadelphia Inquirer. Inverstigators found that officers Sean Alivera and Christopher Luciano appeared to be stealing drugs from couriers and giving them to a dealer to sell. In a crime captured on video surveillance, Monday evening investigators watched as Alivera and Luciano – on duty and in full uniform – stopped the undercover officer, arrested him, and robbed him of 20 pounds of marijuana and $3,000 in cash.
“Police corruption will not be tolerated,” District Attorney Seth Williams said announcing their arrests. “We are committed to rooting out bad cops, and we will prosecute them for the disgraceful thugs and scum that they are.”
Their scheme is nearly identical to another disclosed in July, when three officers were accused of stealing heroin and selling the drugs to a dealer for $6,000. Alivera and Luciano became the 12th and 13th officers arrested since March 2009, including two charged with murder after off-duty shootings. “This is another embarrassment for our department, another in a long list unfortunately,” said Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey. “But it’s all part of our commitment to clean our house.”