Broward Sheriff’s deputy Albury Augustus Burrows has been arrested and charged for his alleged involvement with a drug trafficking ring that imported and distributed large amounts of narcotics in Florida.
Burrows, 47, was arrested on December 18 for allegedly assisting the leader of the drug traffickers by providing him with information on law enforcement tactics and advice on how to avoid detection and prosecution. He faces several charges, including fabricating evidence, racketeering, and giving false information to a police officer.
Burrows was ordered held at Broward County Main Jail in lieu of $261,000 bond. He has to prove that his bond funds come from legal sources before he can be released. It is unclear if he has hired an attorney.
According to the arrest affidavit, the trafficking ring stored drugs and firearms in a Lauderdale Lakes warehouse and sold narcotics around Fort Lauderdale. A police informant reportedly bought thousands of dollars worth of drugs from an alleged dealer identified as Michael Allen of Fort Lauderdale. Allen, 34, was arrested on November 15 on several drug charges, including trafficking of heroin and cocaine, records show.
While investigating Allen, detectives tailed him as he made rounds to apartment complexes and houses, a warehouse, and a restaurant in the city. When they raided a house in Fort Lauderdale associated with the traffickers, investigators confiscated almost $20,000 in cash and over 350 grams of cocaine, the affidavit said. Evidence they collected over several months indicated that Burrows was aiding the traffickers, and that led to his arrest this week.
Burrows reportedly advised the leader of the organization, Jeffrey Baisden, about police tactics so he could avoid capture and prosecution.
“Everyone who wears our uniform swore to serve and protect the residents of Broward County, not abuse their power for self-serving purpose,” Broward Sheriff Scott Israel said in a statement to the press. “I promised to instill a culture of efficiency and transparency. Although disappointing, this arrest is yet another example of how the professionals in our agency will follow leads wherever they take them, even if that means arresting a fellow deputy who has done wrong. I demand our deputies give their best to our community, and the community wants and expects to receive the best from us.”
Burrows was a veteran police officer who joined the sheriff’s office in 1999. He was suspended without pay following his arrest on Monday. The sheriff’s office is reportedly conducting an internal affairs investigation.
This is not the first time Burrows has been implicated in a crime. In 2009, he was charged with grand theft after he allegedly stole $1,200. The money was part of almost $2,500 that was seized from a marijuana grower in Pompano Beach.
Burrows was the main suspect in the case because he allegedly instructed his team members to leave the money in the apartment and go to lunch. Investigators reportedly searched all the deputies involved in the raid and their vehicles, but the missing money was never found. Burrows was acquitted by a jury in 2011.
Source: 12.19.17 Broward Sheriff’s deputy accused of helping drug trafficking ring.pdf