ORLANDO, Fla. -- An elite group of police officers is accused of violating rights while waging its war on drugs on the streets of Orlando, a Local 6 News investigation has uncovered.

Orlando police Chief Val Demings has said the department's Uniformed Drug Unit (UDU) is among the best the department has to offer its citizens, with more than 700 arrests last year.

But, when the Problem Solvers tracked arrests through court, it was discovered that Orlando police lead the way in its share of cases dismissed because of what the state attorney's office calls, "key witness problems -- LEO" (law enforcement officer).

The OPD officers most often involved were from the Uniformed Drug Unit, the report said.

Local 6 showed what happened when two UDU members had to answer questions -- under oath -- about how they came to find drugs on a man named Jeff Mobley.

"Asked what they were doing when they saw the car Mobley was riding in supposedly run a stop sign, Officer Chad Ochiuzzo said, 'We (were) sitting in a fixed position on Columbia; we were watching a known drug house,'" Local 6's Tony Pipitone said.

Judge Wattles probed Officer Brain Ferrara about the "sitting and watching" statements.

"You all were actually going down the road in your vehicle and you all were stopped and that vehicle went through the stop sign?" Wattles asked.

"That's what I recall," Ferrara said. "Yes, sir."

Ferrara, unlike Ochiuzzo, did not mention sitting in a fixed position watching a known drug house. So, the judge's suspicions grew, Pipitone said.

"Two plus two is not equaling four," Wattles said. "It's 3.8 somewhere in my mind."

A witness also testified Mobley was detained and handcuffed before he could consent to a search.

"He was proceeding to search him," witness Johnny Jones said. "He asked him (if he) could he search him. I think Jeff told him no or why, or something similar to that, no or why. And the officer then put the handcuffs on him."

Ochiuzzo was asked about the handcuffs by Wattles.

"Did you ever put Mr. Mobley in handcuffs, that you recall?" Wattles said.

"I don't believe I did," Ochiuzzo said. "I don't recall doing that. No."

Wattles questioned OPD's actions.

"I'm getting concerned we're developing operational rules of the street, versus operational rules," Wattles said.

So, in deciding whether to suppress evidence -- the drug officers said they found on Mobley -- Wattles weighed who was more credible -- the two officers or the driver, who was a convicted felon and friend of the defendant, Pipitone reported.

The judge sided with the felon.

"Something else is going on here," Wattles said. "I mean, it just is. Mr. Jones testified they handcuffed Mr. Mobley. The officers testified that they didn't. As I understand, Mr. Jones has a prior record. But still, taking that into account, I'm gong to just go ahead and suppress the evidence. I'm not comfortable that Mr. Mobley consented to the search. I just think it's a pretextual stop and so, I'll suppress the evidence."

Jones said he was not surprised by the events.

"So, what does this say about the way police are operating?" Pipitone asked Jones.

"They're not handling their business in our communities properly for some reason," Jones said.

"(UDU) are very aggressive with young, African-American males," defense attorney Chris Smith said. "They often come in complaining about being stopped for no reason and being searched without being asked."

Smith said some officers -- not many -- can cross the line, Pipitone reported.

"It's the mentality of, 'It's OK for me to lie, because I'm getting what is in my mind a bad guy,'" Smith said. "But the ends never justifies the means."

OPD refused to let Local 6 cameras show the UDU team in action. However, Local 6 found them assisting in a traffic stop in Parramore.

Within minutes, the Local 6 van was targeted, detained by the UDU team, including Officers Ochiuzzo and Ferrara.

"(I) find it interesting that you're giving me a ticket because you know the story I'm working on," Pipitone said.

"No sir, you committed a violation of the traffic statue," an officer said.

The ticket was for allegedly not stopping properly at a red light.

"And this had nothing to do with the fact that I've been trying to get video of you guys in action and have been denied access, right?" Pipitone said.

"No sir," an officer said.

"Why do you think cases are dismissed so much by your guy's squad because of law enforcement problems?" Pipitone asked.

There was no answer.

Pipitone said the ticket was being challenged in court.

Pipitone then questioned the officer's boss, Capt. Larry Zwieg, who began overseeing the 12-officer unit this year.

"I know these officers do a good job," Zwieg said.

"When you see about 20 cases tossed because of law enforcement problems or motions to suppress being granted, what does that tell you?" Pipitone asked.

"You're going to see drug cases are going to be in those numbers," Zwieg said. "We're talking about a very small percentage of cases that you are looking at."

But the 12 officers in the unit or their predecessors are named in about a third of OPD cases thrown out for law enforcement officer problems.

"We've made some major changes in this unit and many of the people that were working in the drug enforcement division are no longer there," Zwieg said.

Half of the UDU unit has been replaced this year and the entire undercover drug unit was disbanded as part of Chief Demings' emphasis to have more officers on the street fighting crime.

The state attorney is appealing Wattles' ruling suppressing evidence from the case featured in the report.

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.