Former Raleigh police officer charged with felony obstruction of justice after administering heroin to men, district attorney says

RALEIGH, NC (WNCN) — A former Raleigh police officer has been charged by a Wake County grand jury with obstructing justice, following an investigation that began in 2020 after he was accused of planting counterfeit heroin to a group of men, the district attorney announced Wednesday.

“Omar Abdullah was found to have unlawfully, willfully and criminally obstructed justice by providing false testimony to a justice officer about a counterfeit and counterfeit substance which was misrepresented by the defendant as heroin…while as an officer serving heroin trafficking charges against.” Marcus Vanirvin prosecuted with the Raleigh Police Department,” on or about May 21, 2020, official documents released Wednesday showed.

CBS 17 previously reported that Abdullah was fired on Oct. 28, 2021 after being accused of planting the heroin and then framing people for human trafficking over that incident.

Abdullah and the city of Raleigh then became the subject of a civil rights lawsuit.

The plaintiffs faced more than seven years in prison and served more than two years in prison before the charges were dropped.

The city later settled the lawsuit for $2 million, CBS 17 previously reported.