[420 Girl]

Arizona - Chandler police detectives were selling 500 pounds of marijuana in an operation called a "reversal'' when they became the victims of a botched drug ripoff in south Phoenix, according to court records released Friday.

Chandler police detectives were selling 500 pounds of marijuana in an operation called a "reversal'' when they became the victims of a botched drug ripoff in south Phoenix, according to court records released Friday.

Two defendants in the fatal shooting of Detective Carlos Ledesma, 34, showed police $250,000, demonstrating they had the cash to buy the pot, at a fast food restaurant at 19th Avenue and Broadway Road in Phoenix, and later inspected a sample at nearby location, documents prepared by Phoenix police said.

But when police drove their unmarked vehicle into a garage of a house in the 2300 block of W. Maldonado Avenue loaded with marijuana, shots rang out inside that eventually left Ledesma dead and two other detectives critically injured.

Chandler and Phoenix police both confirmed the scenario as efforts were underway to plan Ledesma's funeral.

Sgt. Joe Favazzo, a Chandler police spokesman, said the undercover operation did not involve a traditional exchange where dealers sell drugs to undercover agents. In this case, the undercover officers had the drugs and the suspects had the cash.

"This is a reversal,'' said Sgt. Joe Favazzo, a Chandler police spokesman. "This is seized evidentiary marijuana.''

He said one wounded detective was doing "much, much better'' at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center while the third has been released from the hospital.

Neither Favazzo nor his Phoenix police counterpart, Sgt. Steve Martos, could say why the Chandler detectives were attempting to sell the marijuana to buyers in southwest Phoenix. The botched drug ripoff on Wednesday evening also left two suspects dead and another hospitalized, while five others were arrested on charges ranging from first-degree murder to possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

One of the dead was identified Friday as Markiese Royalty, believed to be 26, the cousin of another suspect Jerry Cockhearn III, 34. The second has not yet been identified.

In addition to Cockhearn, those in custody were identified as Thadika Singleton, 38, John Webber, 37, Doarnell Jackson, 35, Jerry Wayne Cockhearn, 25, and Eldridge Gittens, 34.


NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: azcentral.com
Author: Jim Walsh
Contact: azcentral.com
Copyright: 2010, azcentral.com
Website: Chandler officers in shootout were trying to sell pot


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