Rios — Instructor Profile

About Rios

Instructor Rios is a United States Navy veteran and active law enforcement officer with extensive experience in narcotics investigations, undercover operations, and criminal interdiction. After serving six years in the Navy, Rios began his law enforcement career in 2010 as a patrol officer, where he quickly developed a passion for criminal interdiction while working a major state highway corridor.

Rios later became a detective with a Prosecutor’s Office and was named Detective of the Year in 2018 for his agency. Since becoming a Narcotics Detective in 2014, he has worked numerous local, state, and federal investigations while serving on multiple federal task forces as both a Case Agent and undercover operative.

Throughout his career, Instructor Rios has conducted more than 300 mid- to upper-level undercover narcotics operations and has played a key role in dozens of major felony investigations, including complex Title III wiretap cases. In 2020, he was recognized as Undercover Officer of the Year by a state narcotics officers association and also received a commendation for outstanding performance in a federal investigation involving significant cocaine and heroin seizures.

Rios currently serves as an instructor at two police academies and teaches for a state Undercover Narcotics Investigator Training (UNIT) program. Between his work as a Case Agent and undercover officer, he has been involved in the seizure of more than 900 kilograms of narcotics and over $1 million in U.S. currency.

Today, Instructor Rios remains actively assigned to a task force conducting multi-kilogram undercover narcotics operations while training law enforcement officers across the country with real-world experience from the front lines of criminal interdiction and undercover investigations.