Cruel cops sabotaged cell (9)
I believe the answer is:
corpuscle
'cell' is the definition.
(corpuscle is a kind of cell)
'cruel cops sabotaged' is the wordplay.
'sabotaged' is an anagram indicator.
'cruel'+'cops'='cruelcops'
'cruelcops' anagrammed gives 'CORPUSCLE'.
(Other definitions for corpuscle that I've seen before include "Minute organism in blood" , "Red or white blood cell" , "Cruel cops with blood cell" .)