A female NYPD officer who boasted about how much she loved her job was busted this week for allegedly dealing large quantities of narcotics, including fentanyl and heroin, while on duty, federal officials said.
Grace Rose Baez was arrested along with Cesar Martinez, of Yonkers, and charged with conspiracy to distribute narcotics and distribution of narcotics, U.S. Attorney of the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said.
Baez, 37, and Martinez, 42, allegedly tried to sell the narcotics to a federal informant between Oct. 9 and Oct. 29, officials said.
Baez, of the Bronx, gave the informant a sample of what she said was “top quality” fentanyl in a Mentos candy container on Tuesday, officials said.
She then told the informant she could sell them a kilo of heroin for $25,000, and 800 grams of fentanyl with pricing to be negotiated later based on the drug’s purity.
Baez, who has been a cop since 2012, allegedly had multiple meetings with the informant, officials said.
She was working desk duty at an NYPD facility while arranging the meetings and negotiating prices to sell “kilogram quantities of narcotics,” the feds alleged.
Baez met the criminal informant in Yonkers on Thursday and handed over packages containing suspected narcotics, including a kilogram and 400 grams of heroin, and 640 grams of fentanyl labeled 640 Manzana. She was arrested the same day.
After arresting Baez, officers went to the Yonkers home she shared with Martinez and found a package of suspected narcotics being thrown out of the apartment, officials said.
Inside, they found a kilogram press machine, as well as additional narcotics that Martinez had allegedly attempted to throw outside, authorities said.
The NYPD put Baez on modified duty in 2020 after she was accused of misconduct. Baez made $96,715 in 2022, less than she had made in prior years because she worked less overtime on desk duty.
Baez, who was suspended without pay after her arrest, and Martinez, 37, face the possibility of dozens of years in prison.
Baez wrote about being a cop in a post on Instagram from 2020.
“I will never apologize for picking a career I love to do,” the posting at Graciela_Rose reads. “There’s always a bad one or two in the bunch, but that’s not me…”
Williams said Baez “flagrantly violated” her oath of office “by pushing poison, including fentanyl and heroin, which are driving the nation’s deadly opioid crisis and have been responsible for thousands of tragic deaths in this city and around the nation,” he said.
Police Commissioner Edward Caban said if guilty, Baez “tarnished the shield that she wore.”
“These charges are extremely troubling because there is no place for corruption at the NYPD,” he said.