HPD narcotics officer relieved of duty
A Houston Police Department narcotics officer is under investigation and has been relieved of duty, officials said.
The officer, Juan Martinez, joined the department in 2005. He is assigned to the narcotics division and was relieved July 16, a spokesman said.
“The officer is the subject of a proactive internal investigation,” Chief Art Acevedo said in a written statement. “Upon completion of the investigation, we will release our findings and the action taken by the department.”
Several law enforcement sources said Martinez is being investigated for inappropriate conduct related to undercover operations and confidential informants, but officials have not yet provided additional details.
The action is the latest to hit the narcotics division, which has come under scrutiny over the past 18 months after a January 2019 drug raid that led to the deaths of two homeowners and to the shooting of four officers.
The officer who led the raid, Gerald Goines, was later accused of lying about buying drugs from the home, and Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg subse
quently announced prosecutors would be reviewing more than 14,000 cases Goines and his former squadmates had handled. In August, she charged him with murder. Goines’ partner, Steven Bryant, and four other former narcotics officers and supervisors have been charged with an array of other crimes, including tampering with government records, theft by a public servant and misapplication of fiduciary property.
Goines was also charged in federal court in November
with violating the civil rights of the couple killed in the raid. During Goines’ detention hearing, an FBI agent said one of Goines’ confidential informants told investigators that she and the former officer had a yearslong sexual relationship.
Prosecutors also reviewed thousands of cases Goines and his squadmates had worked on and identified more than 150 defendants who may need to have their cases overturned. So far, three people have seen their convictions thrown out.