The Nation - News from Dec. 19, 1988

A suspected drug dealer believed to have put out a contract on an undercover agent was fatally injured in a beating “frenzy” during a confrontation in Miami with police, and eight officers were suspended pending an investigation, police said. Six of the eight officers suspended with pay were with Leonardo (Cano) Mercado, 35, before he died, police said. The other two were supervisors. Charges in the case may include murder, said Sgt. David Rivero, a police spokesman. The six undercover officers, all members of a special unit set up to fight street drug sales, confronted Mercado outside a relative’s home while on duty and reportedly took him inside the home. Police said the officers did not have an arrest warrant.