DETECTIVE FACING DRUG CHARGES

Narcotics Detective Abraham Herrera is accused of warning the alleged
boss of a pot farm about a looming raid.

On Halloween in Hialeah, a group of police and federal agents played
trick-or-treat on a house where the prize was an indoor farm of more
than 40 marijuana plants.

A week later, on Tuesday, one of the raiders was put in a federal
jail. Narcotics Detective Abraham Herrera, a Miami-Dade County
policeman since 1986, has been accused of warning the alleged farm
boss to stay away from the place the day of the raid.

That was Alberto Soler, 36. He and Herrera, 37, were arrested Tuesday
morning. Wednesday afternoon they appeared in federal court with
Orlando Gascon and Lazaro Frenes, both arrested Wednesday. All four
are charged with conspiracy to possess marijuana and cocaine with the
intent to distribute them.

Narcotics agents listened to more than 80 of Soler's phone calls,
including the tip-off from Herrera, says a 19-page criminal complaint
made public Wednesday.

``My client adamantly states he's innocent,'' said defense lawyer
Michael Band, after going to court with Herrera. ``The government
theory is based upon conversations which, depending on whose spin you
put on it, says one thing but can very easily say something
dramatically different.''

The conversations between Soler and Herrera were described by Sgt.
Daniel Borrego, a detective in Miami-Dade's internal affairs bureau.
He also holds a special deputy's badge in the federal Drug
Enforcement Administration.

The investigator quoted Herrera as asking, in one phone call to Soler
on Sept. 29: ``Are they growing good, my friends? Are they going to
be big boys?''

Pot Plants

The complaint claimed Herrera was asking about the marijuana plants.
They were growing in a house at 230 E. 62nd St., Hialeah, where the
DEA was planning a raid on Oct. 31, Halloween. The house is owned by
Frenes. He tended the farm inside it for Soler, the complaint said.

Police and federal agents heard about Herrera's connection to Soler
in June, when a confidential source told them Herrera was helping
Soler and Gascon by providing confidential police information. On
Sept. 27, agents got court approval to listen to Soler's phone calls.

According to the complaint, more than 80 calls concerned Soler's
trafficking in cocaine, and some of those conversations were with
Herrera.

More evidence of connections between detective and suspect came on
Oct. 11 when agents followed Gascon around. They stopped him and
found five ounces of cocaine in a pickup truck he was driving. He
mentioned the name of a police friend, Abraham Herrera. They let him
go.

Suspect Invited

Before the Halloween marijuana raid, the DEA invited a squad of
county narcotics detectives to participate. It was Herrera's squad.
That was not odd. Herrera had worked with federal agents before, and
even has commendations for helping DEA and U.S. Customs Service, his
lawyer said.

In a briefing before the Hialeah raid, agents told the county
detectives about the search warrant and the house. They showed them a
picture of Frenes, whom they expected to find there.

Then, the complaint said, Herrera called Soler and warned him not to
go anywhere, especially not with Herrera's Ford Bronco, which Soler
had been driving for two weeks.

The raid was made early that afternoon, before typical Halloween
activities got started. Soon afterward, Herrera told Soler that
Lazaro had been arrested at the Hialeah house. According to the
complaint, Herrera also warned Soler ``to get the papers out of the
Fifth Street house.'' Soler uses an address at 4741 NW Fifth St.

Surveillance

That night, surveillance detectives watched children in costume going
door to door. Some adults were among them, including Soler and
Herrera who were walking and talking together.

Was Herrera rewarded for tipping off his friend? The complaint
doesn't say, and a federal source said it isn't certain that he was
paid.

The document mentioned that Herrera wore a Rolex watch and drove a
new BMW and didn't want his wife to know where the money came from,
but it doesn't claim those were his rewards for protecting Soler.

Indeed, the lead investigator wrote in the complaint, it's possible
that the car was paid for by a police informant who won a lot of
money in the Florida Lottery.