The scandal erupted in February when the Daily News detailed allegations that narcotics Officer Jeffrey Cujdik lied on search-warrant applications to gain access to suspected drug homes.
The Feb. 9 article launched a Daily News series, "Tainted Justice," that also delved into allegations that Cujdik and other officers disabled surveillance cameras during raids of stores that sold little ziplock bags, which police consider drug paraphernalia. After the officers cut or yanked camera wires, thousands of dollars in cash and merchandise went missing after the store owners were arrested, the merchants contend.
"These cops robbed us with a badge," said Anh Ngo, 25, whose family grocery store in the Lower Northeast was raided in September 2008.
She blames the supervisors. "They were the leaders of the pack," Ngo said.
After the officers left her store, she said, about $12,000 in cash disappeared.
Narcotics enforcement is ripe for corruption because officers handle large amounts of cash and drugs, legal experts say.
So the Police Department has procedural safeguards: A supervisor must review and approve all applications for warrants, officers must never meet an informant without another officer present, and at least two officers should conduct drug surveillances.
Yet supervisors and officers often disregarded those rules, a Daily News review of hundreds of search warrants found.
In several cases, officers worked alone with informants and were the only ones to watch drug buys. Yet supervisors approved those search-warrant applications.
