Federal authorities on Tuesday arrested an internal affairs officer of the Miami-Dade Police Department for allegedly conspiring to distribute cocaine and laundering drug money, prosecutors in New Jersey said. Ralph Mata, 45, of South Florida, conspired with members of a Dominican Republic-based drug trafficking ring, a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday states. Mata allegedly helped plan murders of rival traffickers that were never carried out, misused law enforcement databases to gather information for the group, bought it firearms, and helped it smuggle dirty cash from New York and New Jersey to Miami and the Dominican Republic. Compliance Complete was unable to reach Mata for comment. The complaint adds that Mata's role in the crime ring earned him tens of thousands of dollars in drug money, cash he deposited into bank accounts, including those he controlled at Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase Bank. For instance, on March 29, 2103, Mata made deposits of $10,000 at
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