Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
Buffalo Police feel duped after hiring an officer who was accused of overseeing a major marijuana grow operation and had worked as an FBI informant before his hire, the Buffalo News reports.
Jorge Melendez became an FBI informant in New York after a wire tap caught him talking to drug dealers, police told the Buffalo News. That was before he was hired by the police force.
“He was working as a confidential informant for the FBI in New York City shortly before he joined the Buffalo Police Department several years ago,” a police official familiar with the marijuana operation said Monday, according to the paper.
The police department fired Melendez earlier this month after he was arrested by the feds for overseeing a major pot growing operation in South Buffalo. The paper reported that he often drove up to the operation in a patrol car on duty and in uniform.
Buffalo Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda said his department is examining its screening process for new officers.
Melendez, 41, is on house arrest at his apartment as part of a $250,000 bond.
