The J. Edgar Hoover Federal Bureau of Investigation building in Washington, DC, is shown. Al Drago/Bloomberg/Getty Images Jackson, Mississippi AP —

Federal authorities on Thursday announced indictments against 20 people, including 14 current or former Mississippi Delta law enforcement officers, who allegedly took bribes to provide safe passage to people they believed were drug traffickers.

The yearslong investigation swept across multiple counties in the Mississippi Delta region of Mississippi and Tennessee. Two Mississippi sheriffs, Washington County Sheriff Milton Gaston and Humphreys County Sheriff Bruce Williams, were among those arrested.

Some bribes were as large as $20,000 and $37,000, authorities said at a news conference.

“It’s just a monumental betrayal of public tru

See Full Page