Fourteen current and former law-enforcement officers are among 20 defendants taken into custody in the states of Mississippi and Tennessee for accepting bribes from drug traffickers in to provide police protection, in what officials described as "a monumental betrayal of public trust".
The arrests come after a years-long investigation by federal agents who posed as narcotics dealers. Among those charged were county sheriffs from Mississippi.
National authorities set up the sting after receiving complaints from real narcotics criminals about being forced to provide corrupt payments to officers.
The bribery network allegedly extended outside the Delta area of Mississippi into the city of Memphis in Tennessee, and Miami in Florida.
"The original complaints that began the investigation were from narcotics traffickers," a U.S. attorney announced during a news conference on the day of the announcement.
Certain law enforcement members had received bribes between $20,000 (£15,000) and $37,000, the prosecutor added.
The sting utilized covert national officers posing as drug dealers with fake narcotics, which the defendants allegedly believed to be 25 kilograms (55 pounds) of cocaine.
"They betrayed the community," stated a senior FBI official. "They betrayed the confidence that the public had in them, disgraced the badge and weakened the hard work of good law enforcement officers across this area and locality."
The arrests take place as American authorities have begun aerial attacks in the southern continent against suspected narcotics criminals.
