Undercover Cops Are Making Millions Selling Cocaine

Southern Florida has historically been a hotbed of drug activity, which reached its height in the mid-'80s as Miami played host to a slew of bloody cartel wars. While the city no longer resembles its over-the-top Scarface or Miami Vice heyday, Southern Florida still has a significant drug trafficking problem. Given the pervasive nature of the problem, it makes sense that police use a variety of tactics to respond, including undercover sting operations.

Cops in Sunrise City, however, might have been listening to a bit too much Rick Ross when they decided to just sell cocaine themselves in what's known as a reverse sting operation.

In a reverse sting, undercover officers sell drugs to buyers who are tempted by paid informants. Once the exchange occurs, the officers conveniently forget the universal schoolyard no-take-back rule: bust the buyer and walk away with the drugs, cash, and any other items they fancy .

Busts like these can bring in serious money for a police department, and the spoils are often used to buy expensive new equipment and handsomely reward officers in overtime pay (sometimes even doubling their salaries). Even a lowly informant can turn a six-figure profit in this scheme operation.

This isn't even an isolated occurrence. Reverse stings are apparently a tactic used to rake in boatloads of cash and paraphernalia across the country. Sometimes they lead to deadly consequences, such as in Chandler, Ariz. Even the feds have been known to get in on the action.

If only President Reagan could see what a shining example of justice, altruism, and efficacy his War on Drugs has become.