04-08-2014, 10:03 PM
A Miami-Dade police internal affairs lieutenant – tasked with investigating crooked cops – was arrested Tuesday for allegedly orchestrating a murder-for-hire plot for a cocaine trafficking ring.
Federal authorities in New Jersey charged Ralph Mata, 45, with a slew of charges, including conspiring to distribute cocaine. He was arrested Tuesday at his home in Broward County.
The stunning arrest reads like a plot from an action movie.
According to a U.S. Attorney’s Office press release, Mata – known as the “Milk Man” – suggested he had assassins who could rub off rival drug dealers. The contract hit men would wear uniforms and badges and pull over the targets in a staged traffic stop.
Mata also purchased firearms for the drug group, and provided protection for members on two trips to the Dominican Republic in October 2012 and January 2013. Federal agents have seized the weapons.
The lieutenant also helped move drugs for the group in “exchange for thousands of dollars in cash and a Rolex watch.” He also used sensitive law enforcement intelligence to help the drug runners, confiding in the group that $419,000 in drug money had indeed been seized by police, not rival drug dealers, according to authorities.
Federal authorities in New Jersey charged Ralph Mata, 45, with a slew of charges, including conspiring to distribute cocaine. He was arrested Tuesday at his home in Broward County.
The stunning arrest reads like a plot from an action movie.
According to a U.S. Attorney’s Office press release, Mata – known as the “Milk Man” – suggested he had assassins who could rub off rival drug dealers. The contract hit men would wear uniforms and badges and pull over the targets in a staged traffic stop.
Mata also purchased firearms for the drug group, and provided protection for members on two trips to the Dominican Republic in October 2012 and January 2013. Federal agents have seized the weapons.
The lieutenant also helped move drugs for the group in “exchange for thousands of dollars in cash and a Rolex watch.” He also used sensitive law enforcement intelligence to help the drug runners, confiding in the group that $419,000 in drug money had indeed been seized by police, not rival drug dealers, according to authorities.