On Thursday, October 30TH, 20 individuals, including 14 current and or former Mississippi Delta law enforcement officers, were arrested due to allegedly taking bribes in order to provide a safe passage to people they believed were drug traffickers.

This included two Mississippi sheriffs, Washington County Sheriff Milton Gaston and Humphreys County Sheriff Bruce Williams, who were arrested.

Supposedly, Gaston attempted to disguise the payments as campaign contributions, but didn’t report them as required by the law.

In one of the indictments, which charges 15 people, stated that law enforcement officers had been providing armed escort services on multiple occasions to an FBI agent posing as a member of a Mexican drug cartel.

The indictment alleges that the officers were aware that they were transporting 25 kilograms of cocaine through Mississippi Delta counties and into Memphis.

The officers had also additionally provided escort services to protect the transportation of drug proceeds.

As cited in a NYPost Article on the matter, ‘ Some bribes were as large as 20,000 and $37,000 ‘, authorities said at a news conference ( Associated Press, Oct, 30, 25 ).

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said in a statement mentioned in a PBS article that he was ‘ disappointed ‘ to learn of the allegations.

“ The law must apply equally to everyone regardless of the title or position they hold, ” he spoke. “ Know that if you betray the people’s trust in Mississippi, you will face consequences. ( Bates, Oct, 3o, 25 ).