Two undercover cops are being formally indicted today on charges that they framed two brothers and their friends in a drug bust at Club Delicioso in Elmhurst. Last January Officer Henry Tavarez and Detective Stephen Anderson were part of a team performing a “buy-and-bust” operation at the nightclub, resulting in six arrests. But prosecutors say Tavarez did not actually buy any blow, and instead used some of the cocaine bought by Anderson as evidence against four men who had simply been hanging out outside the club. Luckily for them, the defendants were able to obtain a copy of the surveillance video proving they never had any contact with the officers, and the charges against them were ultimately dropped. Both officers are now accused of conspiracy, official misconduct, and according to the Queens D.A., "knowingly engaging in criminal activity that could have resulted in lengthy prison terms for four innocent men."
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