South Texas officer arrested on drug-trafficking charge

McALLEN, TX -- FBI agents have arrested a South Texas police officer on allegations he was involved in drug trafficking.

The Monitor newspaper reports that Mission officer Hector Mendez is a 17-year veteran of the police department who was assigned to a drug enforcement task force.

He was arrested Friday and a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office says he has a court hearing Monday and will be charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine.

It's unknown if he was in custody Saturday and phone number could not be found for him to comment on the charges.

Two former Mission police officers, Alexis Espinoza and Jonathan Trevino, last year were sentenced to lengthy terms for their roles in a drug-trafficking conspiracy that involved other law enforcement officers in the region.