NYPD Officer Smuggled Drugs For Money, Prosecutors Say

LITTLE ITALY, NY — An NYPD officer was arrested on Tuesday morning and charged with smuggling drugs in exchange for money, authorities said.

Nysia Stroud was arrested on Tuesday morning within the NYPD's 5th precinct, which includes Chinatown and Little Itlay, police said. Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance said that Stroud, an officer with the fleet services division, transported marijuana and cocaine in exchange for more than $2,000.

"Brazen criminal conduct by a member of law enforcement constitutes a grievous breach of duty and public trust," Vance said in a statement. "As alleged in this case, the defendant is charged with participating in narcotics trafficking and carrying out the very bad acts she was entrusted to stop, undermining important public safety efforts to keeps our streets safe, clean, and free of harmful, illegal drugs."

Stroud was arrested after an undercover operation in which one of her fellow NYPD officers posted as a drug courier, authorities said. The internal investigation, which was prompted by reports that Stroud was smuggling drugs, started when Stroud met the undercover officer in March, prosecutors said in a statement, after which she began moving "large quantities of cocaine and marijuana" in exchange for payments between $250 and $1,000. Stroud told the undercover officer that she would use her NYPD badge to avoid arrest if they were ever stopped by other officers, and used the code phrase "shopping at Woodbury" for communications regarding drug deliveries, according to prosecutors.

In total, prosecutors say Stroud received more than $2,000 for four separate deliveries. The Brooklyn resident was charged with two felony counts of drug possession and four misdemeanor counts of official misconduct. (For more news from the Lower East Side and the rest of NYC, subscribe here for free breaking news alerts from Patch.)

Patch was not immediately able to contact Stroud's attorney for comment. An NYPD spokesman told Patch that Stroud was suspended after her arrest.

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