ABC13 Eyewitness News cameras were rolling as two Houston police officers dressed in jailhouse orange appeared in court on Thursday facing drug charges. Officers German Ramos and Kendrick Ferguson were busted during an undercover drug sting.
Neighbor Frank Ruffin said, "Everywhere you go these days, you never know who you can trust, who you can't trust."
Neighbors on Officer Ramos' street are shocked by his arrest.
Investigators say Ramos and Ferguson were on patrol Tuesday conducting a traffic stop. They say that stop was allegedly part of a plan between the patrolmen, an undercover officer and a civilian involving a substantial amount of cocaine.
"The plan was to steal 18 kilos of cocaine from the undercover officer and then split the proceeds with the undercover officer at a later date," a court clerk read from documentation.
Investigators say the arrested northwest side patrolmen took two duffel bags filled with cocaine and passed them on to a third civilian named Alexi Matos as a swat team moved in to make the bust.
Houston Police Officers Union President Ray Hunt said, "Any time our members are arrested, it's devastating to our organization."
Hunt said the felony charges against Ferguson and Ramos are tough for the department.
"We have members on both sides of this," he explained. "Our members also did the investigation and made the arrest. And based on the information we have, we believe there was probable cause to make that arrest."
Eyewitness News has learned Officers Ramos and Ferguson joined HPD together in January 2009. Now they are both in jail charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.
The officers have been placed on suspension as the internal affairs investigation continues. The officers are due back in court on Friday.
