A former Louisiana narcotics detective faces federal drug trafficking charges following a sting operation where authorities found eight kilos of cocaine. The former investigator previously served one year and nine months in prison on separate drug charges while being assigned to a federal task force with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Agents with U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arrested 31-year-old Johnny Jacob Domingue last week at the parking lot of a sporting goods store in Edinburg, Texas, as he was picking up eight kilograms of cocaine, court documents revealed. After the arrest, federal agents took Domingue before U.S. Magistrate Judge Juan Alaniz who charged him with one count of possession with intent to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine. Alaniz ordered that Domingue be held without bond for the time being.
A criminal complaint filed by HSI revealed that Domingue served time in prison in Houston following a conviction on a series of drug charges from 2016. The charges stemmed from a time when he worked as a sheriff’s deputy in Louisiana and had been assigned to a task force with the DEA. Court records from the time revealed that Domingue stole drugs and cash from investigations and doctored police documents to cover up his actions. For those crimes, a judge sentenced Domingue to 21 months in prison. Domingue also faced various state charges in connection with the case.
Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas claim in court documents that during his time in prison, Domingue met a convicted drug trafficker who has since turned government informant. After being released from prison, Domingue contacted the drug trafficker and asked him to help him obtain cocaine that he would move from South Texas to Louisiana. The drug trafficker reported the contact to agents with Homeland Security Investigations who then prepared a sting operation.
Over several days of negotiations through phone calls recorded by agents, the government informant negotiated with Domingue over the price and details of the cocaine purchase, the agents claim in their criminal complaint. On September 9, Domingue drove to the parking lot of Academy Sporting Goods store in Edinburg where the agents left a vehicle with the hidden drug load. When Domingue got inside the vehicle, the agents used a remote “kill-switch” to turn the car off and arrested him.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
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