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A group of 14 serving and previous police personnel are part of 20 defendants arrested in Mississippi and Tennessee for taking illicit payments from drug traffickers in to provide police protection, in what officials labeled "an enormous breach of the community's confidence".

These apprehensions come after a years-long probe by federal agents who acted as drug sellers. Among those charged were Mississippi sheriffs.

National authorities initiated the undercover operation after hearing reports from actual drug traffickers about having to pay bribes to police members.

The bribery network reportedly reached outside the Mississippi Delta region into Memphis, Tennessee, and Miami in Florida.

"The original complaints that began the investigation were from narcotics traffickers," a federal prosecutor stated during a press briefing on Thursday.

Some of the officers had received illicit payments between $20,000 (£15,000) and $37,000, the prosecutor noted.

The sting utilized undercover federal agents acting as narcotics sellers with simulated drugs, which the accused individuals reportedly thought to be 25kg (55lb) of the illegal substance.

"They betrayed the community," stated a senior FBI official. "They betrayed the confidence that the people had in them, disgraced the badge and weakened the hard work of good law enforcement officers across this area and locality."

These detentions take place as U.S. officials have begun air strikes in South America against suspected narcotics criminals.