A shocking video has recently emerged of how a police informant tried to plant drugs in an African-American business store, apparently unaware that his actions were being filmed.

Police planting drugs and framing citizens should never occur in a free and democratic society but, unfortunately it does. Rarely is the criminal act and abuse of authority ever caught on camera. Luckily, for store owner, Donald Andrews Jr, it was.

Andrews, operates a smoke store on Mohawk Avenue in Scotia. It sells incense and other smoking paraphernalia – all perfectly legal.

Despite the fact that the business was not engaged in any crime, police became “suspicious” of the store and sent the same informant – James Slater out twice to investigate.

On the second visit, the informant can be seen in the video below placing crack/cocaine on the store countertop. The informant then approached the police with photographic “evidence” of illegal drugs in the smoke shop which then led to the arrest of Andrews.

The Schenectady County sheriff says the informant didn’t “follow proper procedures” and denies sending him in to frame Andrews.

It has now been reported that the informant has disappeared.

It is also worth noting, that although the informant was not himself a police officer, all informants by law, are checked and searched for drugs before they are sent out to “investigate” someone. Either the police failed to check the informant for drugs, or the informant was checked, and still managed to slip drugs on the counter, after revisiting the business.

If no video footage had been available, then the owner would have faced up to 20 years in prison and lost his business. He would have been yet another black male, who made up part of the prison statistics.

It is impossible to say whether he was racially profiled or not, but what is clear however, is that a police informant attempted to frame a business owner by planting drugs in his store.

The Schenectady County Sheriff and the Scotia Police Chief said they were not available for a formal interview about the apparent planting of evidence.

The case follows a similar incident earlier this month which occurred in the UK. Former policeman Daniel Withnell, from Heaton in Bolton pleaded guilty to two counts of misconduct in a public office and one of intending to pervert the course of justice.

He admitted that he struck a deal to plant drugs and firearms in a car in return for cash.

Withnell, a detective constable, revealed how he had offered to arrange for the shotgun and drugs to be planted in an unnamed person’s car, after making a deal with another suspect, named as Clare Smethurst, between 30 September and 30 October last year.

He also admitted to abusing his position as a serving officer with Greater Manchester Police to access the police database between 28 February and 2 October last year in order to gain information from officers investigating another suspect, Robert Sandford.

Following Withnell’s arrest, GMP officer DS Graham Cummings received an anonymous text message in March, falsely stating that a man had been paid to shoot Daniel Withnell. Withnell himself was found to have sent the message.

Withnell, who was serving in Salford Division at the time, was suspended by the police following his arrest last October. He had been a police officer with the force since October 2001.