Another Department of Homeland Security agent has been charged in federal court with using a confidential informant to sell illicit drugs that were seized as evidence. Nicholas Kindle, an agent in Utah tasked with investigating narcotics trafficking, was arrested three weeks after his alleged co-conspirator, agent David Cole. Both face a felony drug distribution conspiracy charge, and Kindle faces an additional charge of conspiracy to convert property of the U.S. government for profit, the Associated Press reports. Federal prosecutors say Kindle and Cole abused their positions to acquire illegal drugs known as “bath salts” from Homeland Security evidence and from other law enforcement personnel, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, under the false pretense that they would use them for legitimate investigations.
Prosecutors say Kindle and Cole began stealing drugs from evidence and lying to fellow agents about their purpose in 2021. They are alleged to have stolen thousands of dollars in cash, a diamond ring and a Peruvian antiquity from evidence. From 2022 to 2024, the agents allegedly sold the drugs to a person identified in court documents only as a “source of information.” They allegedly let that person resell the drugs and did not arrest the customers. The FBI says the scheme brought in between $195,000 and $300,000. The agents later are said to have compelled a confidential informant recruited to conduct controlled buys from suspected dealers after his release from prison to become the new middleman. Kindle and Cole used an encrypted messaging app to give the informant meeting locations, which ranged from a Panera Bread restaurant to a Nike store. The FBI began investigating last October after the informant’s lawyer contacted the U.S. Attorney in Utah to report that Kindle and Cole had required him to engage in potentially unlawful acts.
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