Pubdate: Fri, 17 Jan 2003 Source: San Antonio Express-News (TX) Copyright: 2003 San Antonio Express-News Contact: http://www.mysanantonio.com/expressnews/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/384 Author: Kate Hunger, San Antonio Express-News Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States) TWO SOUTH TEXAS OFFICERS FACE DRUG CHARGES A Uvalde police captain and a Frio County reserve sheriff's deputy are facing federal drug charges in unrelated cases, the FBI announced Thursday. Uvalde Police Capt. Armando Martinez, 44, was arrested Thursday by FBI agents after his Jan. 8 indictment by a federal grand jury in Del Rio on charges of selling cocaine on four occasions from March to June 2001. Martinez is being held in federal custody pending a detention hearing set for Jan. 22 in Del Rio. The FBI began investigating Martinez almost two years ago, FBI Special Agent Rene Salinas said. "This captain was selling narcotics that were seized off the street ... so they never made it to the evidence locker," Salinas said. Uvalde Police Chief Sam Russell said Martinez was placed on unpaid administrative leave. Martinez has served in the department for more than 16 years, he said. "It's one of those things that's unfortunate and it hurts those officers on the street," Russell said. "We're going to have to work our way through it." In a separate investigation, Frio County Reserve Deputy Raul Sanchez Castillo, 49, has been charged with attempting to possess with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine. He was charged in a criminal complaint filed by an FBI agent. Sanchez was arrested Jan. 13 after accepting a boxed nightstand containing fake cocaine from an FBI informant, according to court records. He is out on a $50,000 personal recognizance bond and is set to appear for a preliminary court hearing in San Antonio on Jan. 23. Sanchez had worked as a deputy for the Uvalde County sheriff's office from 1994 until August 2001, when Sheriff Terry Crawford said he fired Sanchez because "he was definitely under a cloud of suspicion at that time." Crawford said Sanchez recently started working for the Frio County Sheriff's Office. However, his length of service and employment status were unclear Thursday because Frio County Sheriff Lionel Trevino did not return calls seeking comment. Last year, three former Frio County sheriff's deputies were convicted and sentenced to prison for violating civil rights, burglarizing and stealing while in uniform. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake