ORLANDO SIERRA
The FBI arrested a Miami-Dade police officer on Tuesday on charges of aiding a cocaine trafficking ring by protecting smugglers, revealing sensitive information, smuggling in weapons, and helping to devise murder schemes for drug rivals. Ralph Mata, 45, is a lieutenant in internal affairs who has been on the force since 1992. According to the federal complaint, Mata called himself “the Milk Man” and offered to have hit men dress up in police uniforms with badges so they could pull over drug rivals and shoot them. He also ensured that drug traffickers safely made their way during travels through New York, Miami, and the Dominican Republic. To top it all off, if Mata was ever pulled over for his suspicious activities, he “would show his Miami-Dade Police Department badge and explain that he was traveling with the narcotics-detecting canine for a training course,” according to the federal complaint.