Hialeah Detectives Used Real Cocaine in Stings, Judge Rules

For years, narcotics detectives in Hialeah, Florida, conducted undercover “reverse sting” operations where they posed as drug dealers and handed out real cocaine as samples to potential buyers — often losing track of the drugs entirely. A landmark ruling by a Miami-Dade circuit judge in April 2026 has now brought the practice to national attention, exposing a web of corruption that includes a former police chief charged with stealing millions and a confidential informant paid more than $640,000 for his work.

According to The New York Times, the operations ran for approximately seven years, from 2014 to 2021. Detectives gave away one to two grams of real cocaine one to two times per month, amounting to roughly a quarter-kilogram of the drug placed onto the streets with no tracking or accountability.

The Judge’s Ruling

On April 16, 2026, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Milton Hirsch overturned the conviction of Jason Elysse, finding two independent due process violations: police committed crimes by handing out free cocaine without legal authorization, and the confidential informant was paid a 25 percent bounty on seized cash — a practice the Florida Supreme Court had previously struck down as a due process violation at even 10 percent.

“Jason Elysse may be a villain, but he is a villain possessed of due process rights,” Hirsch wrote in his ruling. He added: “If the constitutional promise of due process of law does not protect against such governmental outlawry, it is difficult to imagine what it protects against.”

During a hearing, Hirsch questioned a Hialeah detective about what happened to the cocaine. When the detective confirmed he did not know if the drugs ended up in the hands of children and had made no effort to find out, the judge noted the profound failure of oversight.

The Informant and the Money Machine

The reverse stings were fueled by a confidential informant identified only as “Jose,” a 74-year-old former drug trafficker who flipped on Pablo Escobar’s Medellin cartel in the 1980s. NBC6 Investigates reported that Jose was paid at least $642,000 over six years — 24 percent of the $2.7 million seized from suspects he helped lure into stings.

Jose’s background is remarkable: arrested in 1987 in Operation Pisces, then the largest undercover cocaine trafficking investigation in history, he served only six years after cooperating against Escobar’s cartel. He entered witness protection but later returned to Florida, was convicted of smuggling stolen cars to Colombia, and spent nearly five years as a fugitive.

Assistant Public Defender Matlin Brown uncovered that “Pablo,” the supposed broker Jose used to find targets, was actually his brother — also arrested in Operation Pisces and sentenced to 25 years. When Brown revealed this concealed relationship, prosecutors dropped charges against her client Jorley Holt and three co-defendants.

“There are people who are still actively suffering,” Brown told NBC6. “We’re not even talking about criminal records and probation, but people who are actively serving time, hard time over these cases.”

The Former Police Chief

The scandal extends to the highest levels of the department. Former Hialeah Police Chief Sergio Velazquez, who served from 2012 to 2021, was arrested in June 2025 on charges of grand theft, organized fraud, and money laundering. As Reason Magazine reported, investigators allege $3.6 million in city funds is missing, including $1 million from drug forfeiture cases.

Velazquez allegedly deposited $2 million in cash into personal accounts in sums under $10,000 to avoid reporting requirements, and spent tens of thousands on luxury watches and brands including Cartier, Louis Vuitton, and Versace. The reverse stings were discontinued after Velazquez was replaced as chief in November 2021.

Broader Implications

The informant Jose was involved in the arrests of approximately 115 alleged cocaine traffickers. Dozens of people remain in prison or on probation based on cases he brought. The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office has confirmed that “no agencies in the county are bringing us cases involving reverse stings” any longer, noting that “juries do not like reverse stings.”

At least two other defense attorneys are seeking relief for clients arrested in Hialeah reverse stings. Judge Jason Bloch, in ordering an early end to one defendant’s probation, wrote that “evidence has emerged that the prosecution was premised upon potential ‘outrageous government conduct.’”

What’s Next

The case raises urgent questions about the use of real narcotics in police operations and the perverse incentives created by civil asset forfeiture laws, which allow police departments to seize cash and property — and, in Hialeah’s case, to pay informants a percentage of the proceeds. Critics argue this creates a “money machine” that incentivizes aggressive policing and, in the worst cases, outright corruption.

Miami-Dade Assistant State Attorney Jared Octala told a judge that the state has begun reviewing cases involving the informant, acknowledging that “there’s been enough attention that’s been brought to these cases and to the state’s attention to begin to investigate and review them.” Whether that review will lead to further exonerations — or legislative action to ban the use of real drugs in sting operations — remains to be seen.