DC Clothesline
Former Officer Of the Year Caught on Video Trafficking Weapons for Drug Cartels – In Uniform written by Josie Wales, The Free Thought Project
Wednesday April 22, 2015
Houston, TX — New video has surfaced in the case of Noe Juarez; a veteran Houston Police officer indicted just last week on charges of drugs and weapon trafficking.
Juarez was named officer of the year in 2009 and was with HPD for over 20 years when he was arrested in New Orleans. He was charged with conspiracy to distribute 5 kilos or more of cocaine.
At a bond hearing last week, officers say Juarez had been participating in illegal activities for years for years, supplying guns, bulletproof vests, cars and police intelligence to members of the Los Zetas drug cartel.
The secretly recorded video obtained by local news affiliate KPRC includes two scenes recorded outside of the club where Juarez worked off-duty as security. Juarez can be seen in the first clip, recorded March 2011, delivering two rifles to an FBI informant while in uniform. Feds say Juarez was told the weapons were to be shipped to Mexico and received $4,500 in the transaction.
The second clip shows Juarez proving information requested by an unidentified informant. Juarez ran the numbers of two license plates for the informant. He used the HPD database to provide the names and address of people who owed $800,000 in drug money. Juarez reportedly provided this kind of information often, receiving $250-$500 each time.
Testimony from the DEA last week alleges Juarez is connected to Los Zetas cartel members Efrain and Sergio Grimaldo, who prosecutors say were the primary suppliers of cocaine to a violent street gang in Houma, LA.
Efrain was arrested in September 2014 and sentenced to 33 years in prison after distributing 1,640 kilos of cocaine across seven states. Sergio Grimaldo is now cooperating with the feds after being indicted along with Juarez last week for conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
Authorities say Juarez also supplied ammunition, magazines and pepper spray to the cartel. A total of eight assault rifles or pistols linked to Juarez eventually landed in the hands of drug dealers, according to court records. Juarez also allegedly made “straw” purchases of four automobiles and obtained insurance for two others on Grimaldo’s behalf in exchange for payment from the Zetas cartel member.
Juarez’ former attorney, George Murphy, argued that Juarez did not know he was working with drug dealers, and “wouldn’t have done it,” if he knew, stated Murphy.
The videos were introduced as evidence to prevent Juarez from being let out on bail, which was originally set at $500,000 by Houston Judge Beverly Stacy. She was overruled by New Orleans federal judge Sarah Vance, who made the decision to have Juarez held in New Orleans until his April 23 arraignment.
The former officer of the year faces life in prison if found guilty.
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KPRC News, Houston
written by Phil Archer, Reporter
Monday April 20, 2015
HOUSTON - KPRC 2 News obtained secretly recorded video that federal agents say shows a veteran Houston police officer providing assault rifles and information from an HPD database to a FBI informant posing as a drug trafficker. The video is part of federal investigation of HPD officer Noe Juarez.
Juarez was arrested last week after he was indicted in New Orleans for conspiracy to distribute 5 kilos or more of cocaine.
Federal agents say for years Juarez supplied guns, bulletproof vests, cars and police intelligence to members of the Los Zetas drug cartel.
Both video clips were recorded in the parking lot of the now defunct “El Chapparel” club where Juarez worked off-duty as a security. One clip recorded in March 2011 shows Juarez in uniform allegedly delivering two assault rifles to a government informant investigators say he assumed was a major drug trafficker. The FBI alleges Juarez received a total of $4,500 for the guns and was told they were being shipped to Mexico.
Federal agents said Juarez later supplied ammunition, magazines and pepper spray. Court records document a total of eight assault rifles or pistols linked to Juarez that found their way to drug dealers.
A second video, recorded in July 2011 allegedly Juarez providing the informant information about two license plate numbers he allegedly ran through the HPD database at the request of the informant. Agents say Juarez was told the plates belonged to people who owed $800,000 in drug money. In the video, Juarez supplied a name and address from one of the plates, allegedly in exchange for $500.
In subsequent questioning by a FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration agents, Juarez denied providing the information. Witnesses allege in court documents that Juarez also provided drug traffickers advice on “how to detect police surveillance vehicles.”
DEA special agent Larry Johnson testified in Houston federal court last week that Juarez was connected to Zetas cartel members Efrain and Sergio Grimaldo. Court documents identify him as Efrain Grimaldo's uncle. Beginning in 2006, investigators contend Juarez began acting as a "straw buyer" to purchase automobiles for the brothers or their employees to hide the true owner's identity.
Juarez allegedly bought four automobiles, and insured two others on the Grimaldos' behalf, and was in turn paid by them.
In September 2014, Efrain Grimaldo was sentenced to 33 years in federal prison by a New Orleans judge after being found guilty of smuggling 1,640 kilograms of cocaine that was distributed in Jackson, Mississippi, Pensacola, Florida, New York City, Detroit, Baltimore, Maryland, Dover, Delaware and Houma, Louisiana
In Houma, prosecutors say the Grimialdos were the primary suppliers of cocaine to a violent street gang named "Up Da Bayou Boys" (UBB).
Sergio Grimaldo was indicted along with Juarez and is awaiting trial on the charge of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. He is now cooperating with federal agents. Juarez was indicted in the same case.
The videos were included as evidence in an appeal to prevent Juarez from being released after Houston federal judge Beverly Stacy set a $50,000 bond for him April 13. Judge Stacy stayed the order to give prosecutors time to appeal. On April 14, New Orleans federal judge Sarah Vance overruled Stacy. Juarez is now being held in New Orleans where he's scheduled to be arraigned April 23.
In the Houston bond hearing, Juarez former attorney, George Murphy, argued that the former officer of the year did not know he was doing business with drug dealers.
"He had no idea these people were associated with any drug activity at all and if he had know he wouldn't have done it," Murphy said.
Juarez is a 20-year veteran of the Houston Police Department, and in 2009 was named as one of the Houston Police Officers Union's Officers of the Year for his work with the Central Division Tactical Unit.
He faces up to life in prison if he is convicted on the conspiracy charge.
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