Prosecutors will review a 2013 drug possession case in which a Houston police narcotics officer told a local judge he used another cop as his confidential source, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said this week.

The review by the district attorney’s office is the latest to hit the Houston Police Department’s embattled narcotics division, which came under scrutiny after a drug raid at 7815 Harding St. in January ended in a shootout that left two homeowners dead and five officers shot or injured.

After the Harding Street shooting, authorities accused Gerald Goines — the officer who orchestrated the fatal raid — of lying about having a confidential informant buy drugs at the home. The debacle — one of the worst scandals to hit the police department in decades — sparked investigations into Goines, his squad and the narcotics division.

In November, the Houston Chronicle published an investigation into HPD’s narcotics division, probing Goines’ past cases and troubling conduct by other officers.

The 2013 drug case being reviewed by Ogg’s office involved an officer named Marco Santuario.

The Chronicle’s investigation showed that an HPD narcotics officer told a Harris County judge during a 2016 court hearing that Santuario acted as his confidential source in their case against a defendant named Arthur Welborn. A court transcript showed Santuario told then-Judge Mark Kent Ellis he used $525 in department funds to pay a confidential informant who wasn’t present at the time and did not participate in his investigation.

In an interview, Ogg said she directed prosecutors to review the matter after reading the Chronicle’s investigation.

“Harding Street remains our priority, but it is clear we have to look into this,” Ogg said.

In depth: HPD records show misconduct in narcotics division beyond cops at center of botched raid

Goines, 55, was later charged with felony murder. His partner, 45-year-old Steven Bryant, was charged with tampering with a government record. The officers have both retired.

The FBI later arrested the two officers, who were charged with additional crimes in federal court. Goines faces seven federal charges, including two for civil rights violations, two alleging he destroyed or falsified records and three charges of tampering with a witness, victim, or confidential informant.

Department guidelines describe confidential informants as individuals who have an “ongoing” relationship with an HPD investigator and provide information about criminal activity or perform investigative activities under the direction of that investigator. Other “sources” of information are not registered as confidential informants and are not paid.

Santuario did not respond to a request for comment.

Productivity: Key Houston police narcotics officers at center of fatal Harding Street drug raid tallied few arrests, low-level busts

Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said he was unaware of the case and and that the DA had not yet contacted him about her remarks.

“Until I get more information, it would be inappropriate to comment,” he said.

Houston Police Officers’ Union President Joe Gamaldi did not respond to a request for comment.

In an interview, Welborn’s defense attorney said the case — and Santuario’s statements in court — surprised him.

“This is not going to go well for the state,” defense attorney Norman Silverman said he recalled thinking. “Police officers aren’t informants, they’re police officers.”

The case raises broader questions about HPD’s use of confidential informants, Silverman said.

Court case: Former Houston cop Gerald Goines pleads not guilty as federal prosecutors allege ‘vast and growing’ evidence of misconduct

“This is a problem that has existed for years, and for large part, it’s become part of the standard to defend against a drug case because there was tension between the police wanting to keep everything secret but at the same time wanting to prosecute people,” Silverman said. “So you ended up with prosecutions based on secret evidence, and that’s not well tolerated by the Constitution.”

Court records show prosecutors subsequently dismissed Welborn’s case.

st.john.smith@chron.com