"drug arrests were real; badge was fake"

Here is a story about an unemployed ex-security guard who moves to a small town, pretends to be a DEA agent, raids people's homes and arrests them for "drug crimes." The New York Times reports on this, and interviews a person who was "arrested" by the fake DEA agent. This person has not been charged with a crime. The New York Times publishes a headline above this story that reads: "Drug arrests were real; badge was fake."

Real? The arrests were real? In what sense are they using the word real? I may have gotten I:FAIL R:FAIL A:FAIL C:FAIL on my last Torts essay but I am reasonably confident all the elements of defamation have been met when you publish an article about a person arrested by a fake cop for a drug crime and then you insist that that drug crime actually happened.

Like I said, the New York Times is edited by idiots.