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A group of 14 serving and previous police personnel are part of twenty individuals charged arrested in the states of Mississippi and Tennessee for accepting bribes from narcotics dealers in to provide law enforcement cover, in what officials described as "a monumental betrayal of the community's confidence".

These apprehensions follow a multi-year investigation by national law enforcement who posed as narcotics dealers. Among those charged were Mississippi sheriffs.

Federal officials initiated the undercover operation after hearing complaints from actual drug traffickers about having to pay bribes to police members.

The bribery network allegedly extended beyond the Mississippi Delta region into the city of Memphis in Tennessee, and Miami in Florida.

"The original complaints that began the investigation were from drug dealers," a U.S. attorney announced during a press briefing on Thursday.

Some of the officers had accepted illicit payments ranging from $20,000 (£15,000) and $37,000, the legal official added.

This operation utilized covert national officers acting as narcotics sellers with simulated drugs, which the defendants reportedly thought to be 25 kilograms (55 pounds) of cocaine.

"They betrayed the public," stated a high-ranking federal agent. "They betrayed the confidence that the people placed in them, shamed the uniform and weakened the efforts of honest police members across this state and region."

These detentions occur as American authorities have embarked on aerial attacks in South America against alleged drug traffickers.