JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – For many drivers, Interstate 95 is a connector, leading travelers through Jacksonville.
But in the 1990s, I-95 had also become a pipeline for cocaine distribution.
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Back then, law enforcement in Jacksonville was investigating two men who had clawed their way to the top of the drug chain.
But the deeper investigators dug, the more they couldn’t believe where their drug investigation was leading them.
As federal investigators were fighting the crack cocaine epidemic 25 years ago, they stumbled upon a conversation during a secret wiretap between a pair of drug dealers that was so surprising, so seemingly outlandish, they thought it had to be wrong.
Five words heard during that phone call turned a narcotics investigation into a police corruption case that revealed a stunning web of deceit spun by officers with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
For the first time, we’re now hearing from the team that exposed their network of betrayal in the first episode of a new News4JAX true crime docuseries: Florida Justice.
During the first episode, which you can watch in the video player above, News4JAX Anchor and Investigator Jennifer Waugh, who covered the story when it happened, takes a look back at how the investigation unfolded.
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The first three episodes of the series went live on Jan. 30 on News4JAX.com/FloridaJustice and News4JAX+ and the following three episodes will publish on both platforms each Thursday for the next three weeks.