Ex-Houston cop sentenced for providing armor, guns, insider info to Zetas cartel

An image captured by a hidden video camera as then Houston Police officer Noe Juarez meets with a government informant posing as a drug trafficker needing his assistance to acquire firearms. The video is part of the government's effort to convict Juarez. less An image captured by a hidden video camera as then Houston Police officer Noe Juarez meets with a government informant posing as a drug trafficker needing his assistance to acquire firearms. The video is part ... more Image 1 of / 20 Caption Close Ex-Houston cop sentenced for providing armor, guns, insider info to Zetas cartel 1 / 20 Back to Gallery

A disgraced former Houston policeman was sentenced to 30 years in prison Wednesday for using his badge to provide guns, body armor and sensitive law enforcement information to criminals connected to the Zetas drug-cartel.

Noe Juarez was convicted in New Orleans in January in a federal drug conspiracy case that included a secretly recorded video of him making deals while in uniform outside a Houston night club where he was in charge of security.

READ MORE: Jury convicts former HPD officer for role in drug trafficking

He would sell guns and other gear out of the trunk of his police cruiser.

The gear and information was sold to a cocaine trafficking network that reached from Mexico through Texas, Louisiana and other states.

READ MORE: Drug case linked to HPD officer involved Mexican cartel

"The cartel's efforts to infiltrate law enforcement are not limited to Mexico," said Stephen Azzam, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration in New Orleans. "They want to do it here as well and we can't let them."

Juarez, a former Marine who was a police officer for more than 20 years, was accused of having been in the pockets of the traffickers for years.

READ MORE: HPD officer accused of cocaine trafficking

dane.schiller@chron.com; twitter.com/daneschiller