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Testimonyof

Bridget G. BrennanSpecial Narcotics Prosecutor

Before

The New York City CouncilCommittee on Public Safety

Fiscal Year 2012Preliminary Budget Hearings

O F F I C E O F T H E S P E C I A L N A R C O T I C S P R O S E C U T O R

March 15, 2011250 BroadwayNew York, NY

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FY2012I would like to thank the City Council for its consistent and generous sup-port of the Offi ce of Special Narcotics and all of the District Attorneys’ Offi ces through the years. The leadership of the Public Safety Committee has been critical in helping us through diffi cult times. Your commitment to public safety and our offi ces has been demonstrated both in your fi -nancial support and in your creation of initiatives that have enhanced public safety.

Funding: I would like to reiterate my gratitude for the steps you have taken in the last few years to make certain that my agency has parity with the other District Attorneys. Your advocacy was critical in achieving the needed baseline funding that will guarantee that my offi ce is funded at the same level as other prosecutors’ offi ces.

Unfortunately, our funding continues to be highly unpredictable. Over the last few years we have received a fl urry of baseline cuts and cash restorations, making it impossible to plan. Even more troubling, in most instances, we have only received one-time cash infu-sions that have replaced budget cuts of base-line funding. As demonstrated by the 2% cut we just received, we can no longer forecast what our budget will be from one year to the next, or even from one budget modifi cation to the next.

In fi scal year 2012, the combined total reduc-tion in projected city, state and federal funding for my offi ce is $1,832,115, or 10.2%. Such a funding loss in one year would render us unable to fulfi ll our statutory duties. Therefore I urge the Council to assist us in three critical areas: restore the City Council cash grant to its previous level, advocate to the City for 2012 baselining of the one-time cash infusions that we received in 2011, and help us to eliminate the newly proposed and unsustainable two percent executive budget cut.

Drugs and Violence: While crime in New York City is nowhere near the record levels seen twenty years ago, there has been a troubling rise in homicides, robberies and felony assaults in some of our neighbor-hoods. As is well known, drugs play a signifi cant role in violent crime. In particular, there have been some alarming shootings and homicides in Housing Developments that have been motivated by drugs and drug gangs.

Unfortunately, drug selling, drug use and drug addiction have not abated

OSNP Total Funding ReductionsFiscal 2012 Projected vs. Fiscal 2011 Modifi ed

AmountOSNP FY 2011 Modifi ed Budget $17,908,646

Projected FY 2012 ChangesCity Funding Reductions (1,153,930)State Funding Reductions (525,530)Federal Funding Reductions (152,655)Total -10.2% $(1,832,115)

OSNP FY 2012 Projected Budget $16,076,531

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in New York City. Our international drug traffi cking cases demon-strate that drugs are still fl owing into this country. Just this month, our investigators assisted the DEA and the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force in seizing 18 kilograms of heroin that had been smuggled across the border from Mexico into California and then trucked across the country. New York City residents were the intended purchasers of this heroin. It is heroin such as this, along with cocaine and other addictive drugs, that fuels the violence in the city. In just one ex-ample, last year our offi ce charged the city’s fi rst drug kingpin under the newly enacted statute. The defendant, Jose Delorbe, ran a violent drug ring that sold at least two pounds of heroin and cocaine each day from an apartment building in The Bronx. Delorbe and his crew were implicated in a shoot-out after they were captured on surveillance video carrying guns and fi ring a hail of bullets at rivals in the street. Adequately funding the City’s prosecutors will allow us to maintain public safety and the crime reductions that our citizens deserve.

Black Market Prescription Narcotic Drugs: We are also facing a new, insidious threat – the exploding, illegal use of prescription drugs such as Oxycontin, Percoset and Vicodin. Lulled into a sense that pre-scription drugs are safe and well-regulated, the public has been slow to absorb the reality that we are in the middle of an epidemic. These prescriptions drugs are abused by young and old alike. Most alarm-ing is the regular abuse of prescription drugs by children. Prescription and over-the-counter drugs comprised 8 of the top 14 categories of drugs abused by 12th graders in 2009.

The easy access to prescription drugs, and the illusion that they are safe, has lured our children onto a perilous path. This path is paid for, in large measure, by the taxpayer. Medicaid dollars pay for many of the drugs stolen from medicine cabinets, sold on the street, and purchased with phony prescriptions. It is critical that we work imme-diately to reverse this trend. I know that we can count on you to help us to aggressively pursue this complex problem.

Community Engagement: With the Citywide jurisdiction of my of-fi ce, we routinely do large scale investigations of drug gangs that ruin their neighborhoods. However, I do not rest solely with the convic-tion of drug dealers. I understand that to maintain the gains brought

Heroin from Mexico is routed through California to New York City.

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by freeing a community of these drug felons, we must work with the community to keep their buildings safe and prevent the return of the drug dealers. For example, we investigated and arrested a drug gang in the Albany Hous-es in Brooklyn that were destroying the quality of life for the legitimate tenants. Following that investigation, we created a Teen Impact Center in the community room of the Albany Houses in partnership with the Brooklyn Dis-trict Attorney’s Offi ce, New York City Housing Authority, the New York City Police Department, the New York City Department of Education and the Police Athletic League.

With support from the City Council, we hope to open similar centers and continue our community engagement in the neighborhoods where we have dismantled drug gangs.

Drug Treatment: Just as we must prevent drug selling and abuse, we must also provide treatment to those who are already addicted. Drug treatment has been a signifi cant priority for my agency for over twenty years. My offi ce has a unit devoted to evaluating, tracking and overseeing our DTAP program, as well as monitoring the treatment granted through the Judicial Diversion program. I continue to meet regularly with drug treatment providers to share informa-tion and receive guidance on effective demand reduction strategies. Hopefully you can join me in developing an ef-fective public information campaign to alert the public, our schools, parents and our colleagues to the dangers posed by prescription medication abuse.

Consequences of Budget Cuts: Unfortunately, the pro-posed cuts for fi scal year 2012 will signifi cantly hamper our ability to fulfi ll our mission and address new challenges. More than 96% of our city budget pays for personal ser-vices, thus saving can only be accomplished through the reduction of personnel. Shrinking our staff will impede our ability to serve the pub-lic, will slow our response to cases and will have the cascading effect of escalating costs for police, corrections and the court. Ultimately, these cuts could impact the safety and security of our communities.

Opening the new Teen Impact Center at the Albany Houses in Brooklyn, NY.

Graduation from a treatment program is a new beginning for defendants successfully participating in DTAP.

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TrendsA dangerous and alarming trend has swept the country, and has New York City in its grip: the di-version and abuse of prescription drugs. Consid-ered a relatively minor problem just a few years ago – especially when compared to the abuse of street drugs – misuse of prescription drugs like Vicodin and oxycodone has exploded at such an alarming rate recently that steps must be taken im-mediately to stem the epidemic. Nationally, the picture is well documented. According to SAM-HSA’s1 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, seven million Americans reportedly used prescription drugs for nonmedical purposes in 2009, which was more than the number of Ameri-cans using cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens and in-halants, combined. Of those seven million Americans, 31% reported that their use of narcotic pain relievers for nonmedical purposes fi rst began in 2009.

The prescription drug abuse epidemic has hit New York City particu-larly hard. Oxycodone, the generic name for a narcotic pain reliever commonly prescribed as OxyContin, is among the most frequently prescribed and heavily abused. Just last month, we received data from the New York State Health Department which shows that, over the past three years, the number of oxycodone prescriptions fi lled has in-creased by 97% on average across all fi ve boroughs. The breakdown by borough is as follows:

It is not just the rate of increase, but the sheer number of pills pre-scribed that is so startling. In 2010, more than one million prescrip-tions were fi lled in New York city – enough to supply one prescription for every eighth person , or 13% of the total population. In 2007, only half a million prescriptions were fi lled, enough for a more reasonable 6% of the city wide population.

1 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Borough 3-Year % IncreaseBrooklyn 120%Bronx 116%Staten Island 98%Queens 95%Manhattan 65%

Average 97%

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Staten Island is the borough most inundated with oxycodone. Per-capita, the number of oxycodone prescriptions fi lled in Staten Island in 2010 represented an astounding 28% of the borough’s population – compared to 17% (Bronx), 13% (Manhattan), 10% (Brooklyn) and 10% (Queens).

The increase in sheer numbers of prescriptions strongly correlates with the increase in prescription drug abuse which our agency has witnessed fi rsthand. In 2007, 6% of our caseload was comprised of prescription drug-related arrests. The percentage more than doubled to nearly 15% of our caseload by 2010. While the increasing numbers are a matter of concern, the violence associated with the black market prescription drug trade is outright alarming. Many of our prescription drug investigations have lead to seizures of guns, and in some cases small arsenals.

Just last month, along with the NYPD and DEA, we investigated a sus-pected drug stash location in an apartment on the Upper West Side. A search warrant was executed at the apartment, and offi cers discovered 350 oxycodone pills, as well as crack cocaine and three loaded semiau-tomatic handguns.

Also last month, a defendant was sentenced to six years in prison after we discovered a stash of hydrocodone pills – along with crack cocaine, a loaded AK-47, two semiautomatic 9MM handguns, a 12 gauge shotgun and ammunition – in his Coney Island, Brooklyn, apartment. A Sheep-shead Bay, Brooklyn, resident was also sentenced to six years in prison when an undercover operation involving the sale of 300 oxycodone pills over a four-month period led to the discovery of a loaded gun and 33 rounds of ammunition in his home. This particular defendant also had a violent criminal history.

Another recent search warrant execution in Astoria, Queens, netted a stash of Percocet (oxycodone) pills, together with cocaine, a 45 caliber handgun, 198 rounds of ammunition, a bullet-proof vest and a police scanner.

These are just a small sampling of the numerous cases we see involving illegal prescription drug dealing among dangerous felons with guns at the ready. Without the necessary resources to combat the problem in New York City, we will see a continuation of the escalating trade in pre-scription drugs and associated violence.

Prescription drug abuse is alarmingly widespread. People of all age groups have been falling victim to prescription drug abuse and addic-tion. There is no single, identifi able profi le of the typical prescription drug abuser. In fact, older Americans make up a sizeable portion of the drug-abusing population.

Perhaps the most disturbing trend is the abuse of prescription drugs among young adults and teenagers. The National Institute on Drug Abuse’s Monitoring the Future survey provides some startling statistics: 15% of all surveyed 12th graders reported using prescription drugs for nonmedical purposes in the past year. Furthermore, prescription and over-the-counter drugs account for nearly 60% of the top categories of

Prescription and over-the-counter medications are abused more frequently by 12th graders than marijuana.

Seizures of prescription drugs increasingly go hand in hand with weapons.

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drugs abused by 12th graders in 2009. As an example, nearly one in 10 have abused hydrocodone (i.e. Vicodin), and nearly one in 20 have abused oxycodone (i.e. OxyContin). The Partnership for a Drug-Free America reports similarly troubling fi gures: one in fi ve teenagers has reported abusing prescription pain relievers, and an equal number re-ported abusing prescription stimulants and tranquilizers.

What makes prescription drug abuse so diffi cult to control is that use and addiction often begin in a seemingly innocent fashion. Unlike with other drugs, people do not have to turn to a drug dealer to get their fi x (not that there is any shortage of dealers on the streets selling prescription drugs). Prescription drugs originate legally and are then diverted to the illegal black market through various avenues. Accord-ing to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, more than half of all 12th graders said that their narcotics were given to them by a relative or friend. According to SAMHSA’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health, only slightly more than 4% of all people age 12 and older re-ported obtaining their prescription pain relievers from a drug dealer or other stranger. Interestingly, studies show that very few (around 0.4%) bought prescription pain relievers over the Internet.

Prescription drugs are dangerous and abuse can have deadly conse-quences. SAMHSA estimates that the total number of people rushed to the emergency room for non-medical use of narcotic pain relievers more than doubled between 2004 and 2008. Prescription pain reliev-ers are involved in a substantial proportion of drug overdoses. The Na-tional Institute on Drug Abuse reported that the number of deaths due to narcotic pain reliever overdose tripled between 1999 and 2006 and outnumbered the total number of deaths from heroin and cocaine. A report issued by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention noted that approximately 28,000 Americans died from overdoses in 2007.

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FundingLoss in City Funding: In current fi scal year 2011, my offi ce received two baseline budget cuts, an executive cut of 8.4% or $1,262,656 and a mid-year November cut at 1.3% or $197,945 (prorated to 0.9% or $139,305 for fi scal 2011 for partial year). Though the City restored a small portion of the executive cut in June 2010, thanks to your efforts during the adoption process, the total reduc-tion in our baseline budget still amounted to 8.52%. or $1,285,384. These cuts were all the more devastating as our baseline city funding has already been reduced by 16.4% or $2.25 million dollars since fi scal 2003, assuming the baseline restoration through the DA Revenue Agreement does not get re-moved.

We have managed to avoid layoffs this year by offsetting the cuts with the substantial amount of one-time cash funds received during the year. The total cash funds we re-ceived in fi scal 2011 equals $655,067, about half of the two cuts combined. The cash funds come from various sources includ-ing: DA Revenue funding, a one-time cash restoration from OMB, and the grant from the City Council. Without these cash funds, which equals the salaries of 9 ADA’s or 8 percent of my entire legal staff, we would have had no choice but to lay off staff.

Unfortunately, the news for fi scal 2012 is dire. The $655,067 cash funding or 4.3% of our budget that kept us afl oat in fi scal 2011 has been removed from our fi scal 2012 budget. We have just been in-formed that we will receive another 2% budget cut in the coming execu-tive plan. This new cut will bring our total loss in City funds over the last two years to a stunning $1.65 million dollars or 11%.

State Reductions: The state’s budget situation appears to worsen daily and no one can forecast how state offi cials will allocate scarce resources. Overall, we foresee that combining all of our state funding cuts, our state budget will be reduced by 37% or $525,000 in fi scal 2012. Our state Aid to Prosecution grant, which has been cut by over a third since fi scal 2003, is expected to be reduced by at least another 8% in fi scal 2012. In addition, the $116,300 we receive from the State for our Drug Treat-

OSNP City Baseline Funding Reductions vs.

One-Time Cash InfusionsFiscal 2011 Modifi ed vs. Fiscal 2012 Projected

City Baseline Budget Reductions AmountFY 2012 -2.4% (369,000)FY 2011 -8.5% (1,285,384)

Total Cut -10.9% $(1,654,384)Cash Funds Received in FY2011

DA Revenue Overage Funds 433,970 City Council Cash Grant 112,020Cash Restoration of Executive Cut 109,077

$655,067

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ment Alternative to Prison Program (DTAP), which does not remotely approach the cost of the program to my agency, will be further cut by 8%. We must also assume that Narcotics Gang Unit and Crimes Against Revenue Program funding will not be renewed next year. Added together, these cuts amount to a 37% reduction in our state funding in one year.

Federal Funding: Though we are grateful for the one-time cash in-fusion in stimulus funding, our federal grant money has plummeted by a staggering 90% or $616,619, from $687,468 in 2002 to $70,849 in fi scal year 2009. The only federal funding remaining is the Byrne Jus-tice Assistance Grant, which continues to diminish each year. Given the assumed amount of federal cuts in fi scal year 2012, the chances of our JAG funding being renewed is getting even slimmer.

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New NeedsFunding for a Safe Neighborhood Initiative in Housing Develop-ments: Comprehensive investigations, effective prosecutions, and coordinat-ed community rebuilding efforts, can dramatically change neighborhoods and the quality of life for residents of public housing. This approach is critical to ensure that entrenched drug gangs are appropriately punished and that neigh-borhoods have both the time and resources to rebuild. We have begun this approach through the opening of a Teen Impact Center in the Albany Houses in Brooklyn in collaboration with the Brooklyn District Attorneys’ Offi ce, the New York City Housing Authority, the New York City Police Department, the New York City Department of Education and the Police Athletic League. For the relatively small cost of $40,000, a similar center can be opened in another Housing Development where we have removed dangerous drug gangs.

We are also proposing to set up a small unit trained and equipped to handle the multi-dimensional approach required in these cases. The unit would coor-dinate, investigate and prosecute the extensive investigations needed to combat the drug activity in the housing developments, while the Community Liaison would work with the local District Attorney’s offi ce to restore needed stability to residents of the development. The unit would coordinate with other city, state and federal agencies, and not-for-profi t organizations, to assist in obtain-ing the resources needed to ensure that the public safety gains and the quality of life improvements remain in place. We are therefore requesting $235,000 in funding to establish this unit which would consist of two ADAs and a Commu-nity Liaison, and a new Teen Impact Center.

Black Market Prescription Medication Unit: Combating the sale, dis-tribution and diversion of controlled substance prescription medication is a multi-faceted and complex endeavor. The black market involves not only the sale of narcotic pills, but also Medicaid fraud, and corrupt practices by doctors and pharmacists.

The investigation of these crimes requires an expertise in these subject matters. In addition, coordination between the many agencies with jurisdiction over these issues is a unique challenge. The agencies that deal with various aspects of the black market of prescription drugs include the New York State Attorney General’s Offi ce, the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement of the NYS Department of Health, the Offi ce of the New York State Medicaid Inspector General, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the FBI, the NYPD, the New York City District At-torneys and my offi ce. I have been meeting with these groups to develop a coordinated strategy to combat this growing problem. With funding for a unit devoted to this growing problem, investigations will begin to be able to keep up with the exploding black market in narcotic prescription medications. We would like to request $200,000 to pay for the salaries of two ADAs and a In-vestigative Analyst.

Safe Neighborhoods

2 ADAs $150,000

1 Community Liaison 45,000

New Teen Center 40,000

Total $235,000

Prescription Diversion

2 ADAs $150,000

1 Investigative Analyst

50,000

Total $200,000

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Case HighlightsCurtains for Theater District Heroin Mill

A booming heroin mill located in Manhattan’s Theater District was dis-mantled in November. A quantity of heroin large enough to fi ll more than 150,000 “glassine” envelopes was seized from a West 43rd Street apartment that housed the drug ring’s packaging operation, just blocks from Times Square. Members of the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force and SNP investigators arrested four drug traffi ckers, who had been busily packaging heroin. Investigators found piles of loose heroin on tables. Tens of thousands of glassines were already fi lled and wrapped into bundles for delivery. A va-riety of stamps were used to market the heroin under different brand names, including “Jersey Boys,” “Cats & Dogs,” “King Kong” and “95 South.”

Drug Ring Dismantled inside Brooklyn’s Albany Houses

Six drug dealers who sold heroin and crack-cocaine at the Albany Houses in Crown Heights, Brooklyn were arrested in July. The defendants sold narcot-ics in apartments, public hallways and stairwells inside two buildings at the NYCHA Housing Development. Following a series of shootings at the com-plex earlier in the year, undercover offi cers with the NYPD’s Brooklyn North Narcotics Division made dozens of buys from six loosely affi liated dealers during a yearlong probe. During one meeting with an undercover offi cer, a subject of the investigation was videotaped conducting a drug sale with his preschool-aged child in tow. Police searched 11 apartments at the time of the arrests and seized drugs and one fi rearm.

$1 Million in Heroin Seized From Bronx Mill

Police seized 7 kilograms (15 lbs.) of heroin worth $1 million in a court-au-thorized search of a Bronx heroin mill in April following an extensive investi-gation. Four members of the drug ring were arrested. A search of the Starling Avenue apartment where the mill was located yielded 50,000 user-ready “glassine” envelopes packaged with heroin, as well as 50 different stamps used for branding the glassines with different names, such as “Almighty,” “Heat Wave” and “Body Bag.” Police also recovered cardboard boxes of empty glassine envelopes, scales, and coffee grinders used for cutting the heroin. In the week leading up to the arrests, one of the defendants, Luis Lara, was observed travelling to both JFK Airport and Newark Liberty Inter-national Airport in a single day. Another of his the defendants was arrested as he left the heroin mill with a backpack that contained 3,000 glassines of heroin.

A round-the-clock heroin packaging mill operated in an upscale apartment building on West 43rd Street, just blocks from Times Square.

A Bronx heroin mill churned out thousands of user-ready “glassine” envelopes that were stamped with a variety of brand names.

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Brooklyn Couple Sold Rx Drugs and Laundered Cash through Real Estate

A Brooklyn couple sold large quantities of illegal prescription drugs and fun-neled hundreds of thousands of dollars in profi ts into real estate purchases in the Dominican Republic. The couple obtained the medication, including drugs used to treat HIV, from a bodega in Brownsville. The bodega owner, who stock-piled drugs he’d bought from patients with legitimate prescriptions, was also arrested along with three additional participants in the scheme. Police stopped the couple’s car in May and seized bags of pills in their original bottles. A court authorized search of their home yielded extensive drug sale records.

Twenty-Eight Narcotics Dealers Nabbed In Operation Opera House

Twenty-eight individuals were arrested for selling cocaine, crack, marijuana and heroin at the Amsterdam Houses, a New York City Housing Authority complex located behind Lincoln Center. The complex served as the major a hub for drug traffi cking in the area. The neighborhood is home to fi ve schools, including Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Performing Arts, Beacon High School and P.S. 191. Undercover NYPD offi cers made 50 purchases during the 9-month probe, which wrapped up in March. Residents had complained about heavy traffi c in the hallways and discarded drug paraphernalia littering the fl oors in public areas, where many of sales took place. During the investiga-tion, undercover offi cers observed drug traffi ckers using students, who live in the complex and attend city high schools, as look-outs and dealers-in-training.

Woman Ran Rx Drug Operation from Chelsea Apartment

A Chelsea woman was arrested for selling over $3,500 in prescription medica-tion to an undercover offi cer in the span of one month. The offi cer purchased oxycodone, Vicodin and Percocet from Olga Miranda during four meetings inside the mailroom in the lobby of her apartment building on West 19th Street in Manhattan between December 2010 and January 2011. Following Miranda’s arrest on Jan. 7, police searched her apartment and found over 2,000 pills, including Vicodin, Percocet, methadone and steroids. An examination of the prescriptions used to obtain the drugs revealed they were all written out to Miranda, and they all came from the same pharmacy. Approximately 20 differ-ent doctors’ names appeared on the prescriptions.

Seventy Pounds of Cocaine and Nine Firearms Seized

An investigation into cocaine traffi cking in Manhattan led police to a pair of stash houses in Brooklyn and Queens, where offi cers seized seventy pounds of cocaine with a street value of up to $10 million and nine fi rearms. Following the issuance of court authorized search warrants, three members of the drug ring and one customer were apprehended by offi cers with the NYPD’s Manhat-tan North Narcotics Bureau in April. Earlier in the day, police observed a drug sale in plain view on the sidewalk in front of a stash house on Greene Avenue in Ridgewood, Queens. Offi cers recovered nearly 40 pounds of cocaine from a suitcase and a washing machine in that apartment, as well as a loaded handgun. Ring leader Carlos Rivera had keys to both stash houses in his possession at the time of his arrest. The second stash house in Bushwick, Brooklyn, contained more than 30 pounds of cocaine hidden in a plant stand that was fi tted with an electronically operated trap. Eight guns, including two assault weapons, were found inside a speaker, while another assault weapon was under a mattress.

A Brooklyn couple sold illegal prescription medication and laundered hundreds of thousands of dollars in drug proceeds through real estate they purchased and developed in the Dominican Republic.

A woman stockpiled prescription medication in her Chelsea apartment and sold $3,500 in pills to an undercover offi cer in the course of one month.

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Columbia University Drug Ring Dismantled: Five Students and Three Off-Campus Suppliers Arrested

Five Columbia University students were arrested for selling drugs at three fraternity houses and other on-campus residences in December. “Operation Ivy League” also led to the arrests and indictment of three of the students’ drug suppliers. One of these suppliers is charged with plotting to kidnap a pair of rival cocaine traffi ckers, whom he believed had stolen money from him. During a fi ve-month investigation that began in July, undercover of-fi cers with the NYPD’s Narcotics Borough Manhattan North made 31 pur-chases from the fi ve students, who sold a variety of drugs, including cocaine, marijuana, powdered MDMA (ecstasy), Adderall and LSD. In some cases, LSD, a liquid hallucinogen, was applied to candies. Searches of the students’ rooms yielded quantities of drugs, scales, thousands of dollars in cash and sales records.

Police Put the Brakes on High-End Cocaine Delivery Service

Two high-end drug dealers were arrested for running a door-to-door cocaine delivery service that catered to the city’s elite. The dealers, Manuel Castillo and Juan Torres, charged a 300 percent mark up on 70 percent pure cocaine and made curbside deliveries to Manhattan nightclubs, upscale apartments and homes in the Hamptons. An undercover offi cer with NYPD’s Manhat-tan South Narcotics team made 10 drug purchases during the course of the investigation, which led to A-1 felony charges. The drug delivery service had been in business for approximately fi ve years and brought in an estimated half a million dollars annually. A third defendant was also arrested for assist-ing in the drug operation.

Two Heroin Rings Beached in Southern Brooklyn

Two heroin rings that sold heroin in Coney Island and Brighton Beach were dismantled in July. One organization, headed by Vincent Baker, special-ized in “Coca-Cola” brand heroin and supplied several low-level dealers in southern Brooklyn. Baker grew wary of law enforcement scrutiny and relocated his business to a parking lot outside an Olive Garden restaurant at the Gateway shopping center in East New York. He was arrested when he went to see his parole offi cer on a prior conviction. One of Baker’s custom-ers, Oleg Kolysyuk, owned a variety store on Brighton First St. and stashed the drugs in the pockets of men’s suits and other merchandise he sold. Baker pleaded guilty and is serving a nine-year prison term.

The leader of the second drug ring, Joseph Folks, supplied other dealers and conducted his drug business outside a pizza parlor in Coney Island. At the time of Folks’ arrest police searched his apartment, where a one-year-old baby was present. The offi cers recovered a loaded handgun, thousands of dollars in cash and a quantity of drugs hidden in a baby wipe container.

Manhattan Heroin Mill Dismantled: Search Closes Cross Bronx Express-way

Authorities seized more than $1 million in heroin from a packaging mill in Washington Heights and arrested six drug traffi ckers, who attempted to dispose of evidence by throwing drugs and guns out the windows. As law

In a search of fi ve Columbia University students’ rooms, police recovered quantities of drugs, including LSD, MDMA, marijuana and Adderall, as well as scales, records and thousands of dollars in cash.

Drug traffi ckers sold glassines of heroin stamped with the “Coca-Cola” brand in Coney Island and Brighton Beach.

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enforcement agents with the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force worked to open the heavily fortifi ed door to the heroin mill, located in an 18th fl oor apartment on Audubon Avenue, members of the drug ring hurled two hand-guns and thousands of glassine envelopes used to package heroin onto the Cross Bronx Expressway, which passes directly underneath the building. A plastic package containing a full kilogram of uncut heroin (over 2 lbs.) was also tossed from a balcony and landed on a second fl oor terrace. One defen-dant, Pedro Capellan, tried to escape by dangling from the balcony, but law enforcement agents were already positioned on another balcony below and forced him to turn back. The NYPD’s Emergency Services Unit closed the Cross Bronx Expressway and nearby George Washington Bridge for a short time in order to ensure the public’s safety and recover the contraband. Three kilograms (6 ½ lbs.) of Mexican and Colombian heroin were recovered in-side the apartment.

Personal Trainer Sold Cocaine on Craigslist

A Brooklyn personal trainer was arrested for peddling cocaine on Craigslist in April. Kinrod Priester sold four grams of the drug to an undercover SNP in-vestigator, who had answered an online advertisement and arranged to meet him in the Flatiron District. Investigators arrested Priester immediately after the sale and were in the process of putting handcuffs on the personal trainer when he wrestled free and tried to run towards his nearby Mercedes. He was quickly caught after he tripped over some wire tree fencing.

Operation Domino Effect Topples Drug Ring in Upper Manhattan: Drugs and Firearms Seized

Police arrested eight members of a sophisticated cocaine and heroin traffi ck-ing ring that sold bulk quantities of drugs to distributors in New York City and along the eastern seaboard from their base in Washington Heights. On a typical day, ring members could be seen playing dominos on the sidewalk as they kept watch over their territory, where they managed to evade law enforcement for many years. During a 10-month wiretap investigation, po-lice made 14 undercover purchases of cocaine. Search warrants executed in November yielded pounds of cocaine and heroin, two loaded handguns and drug packaging equipment. The ring’s leader, Pedro Guzman Damiani, would also accept payment from other drug organizations to repackage their drugs, using presses he stored at his home on Fort Washington Avenue.

Former Beauty Queen Arrested for Forging Painkiller Prescriptions

Former Miss Russia Anna Malova was arrested in May after she refi lled a forged prescription for Vicodin. Investigators with the Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement learned Malova had used a stolen prescription to obtain the drugs. Pharmacy employees at a drug store on Sixth Avenue in the West Village notifi ed authorities after Malova requested the refi ll. She was ap-prehended as she left the pharmacy, where she had picked up a bottle of 85 Vicodin pills. Malova had an open case based on similar charges at the time of her arrest. Those charges stemmed from the theft of another prescription pad from a different doctor in November, which she had used to obtain Vico-din and Klonipin pills from pharmacy on Fourth Avenue in the East Village.

Members of a Manhattan drug traffi cking crew threw kilos of heroin and fi rearms from the 18th fl oor of a building that straddled the Cross Bronx Expressway in an attempt to dispose of evidence.

Police seized pounds of cocaine and heroin and two guns as they dismantled a sophisticated drug ring that supplied customers along the eastern seaboard.

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$4.25 Million Rx Drugs Stockpiled in Yonkers

Nearly 6,500 bottles of illegal prescription drugs carrying a street value of $4.25 million were seized during a court authorized search of a house in Yonkers in June. DEA agents arrested two men, Hector Silvestre and Manuel Delesantos, who are suspected of stockpiling the medications for sale in the Dominican Republic. Stacks of large shipping boxes were fi lled with dozens of different types of medications, including many used to treat HIV patients. Drugs prescribed for asthma, depression, schizophrenia and acid refl ux were also among those seized. The pills were packaged for bulk sale at pharmacies.

Over $1 Million Seized From Marijuana Money-Laundering Ring in Little Italy

In SNP’s largest cash seizure from a marijuana traffi cking ring, investigators recovered $1.1 million from an organization operating out of an apartment in Little Italy. Daniel McGehean, the tenant of the apartment at 153 Mul-berry St., and Richard Doyon, a Canadian national, were arrested for their roles in a large-scale hydroponic pot operation as a result of an investigation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The drug organization is suspected of moving at least 200 lbs. of marijuana from Canada to the U.S. Cash seized from the two men had been shrink-wrap and heat-sealed with packaging equipment, which was found in the apartment along with sales records.

City’s First Drug Kingpin Charged under New Law: Violent Crew Ar-rested in The Bronx

The head of a violent drug organization and 14 underlings were arrested in May for selling large quantities of cocaine and heroin in The Bronx. Jose De-lorbe operated out of an apartment building that he controlled on Undercliff Avenue, where his brazen ring is believed to have sold an average of more than two pounds of cocaine and heroin each day. During the seven-month wiretap investigation, Delorbe and his crew were implicated in a Nov. 24, 2009 shoot-out with a team of suspected robbers. Members of Delorbe’s ring believed the rival group was attempting to break into one of the apart-ments where they stored drugs and/or money. Private surveillance cameras captured Delorbe holding a gun, while another member of his organization could be seen fi ring a hail of bullets down the street. Delorbe is the fi rst New York City defendant charged under the kingpin statute, which went into ef-fect in October 2009 and is the only felony narcotics charge that carries a potential life sentence. A search of 11 apartments at the Underhill building yielded 13 pounds of cocaine, more than a pound of heroin, approximate-ly $175,000 in cash and two guns. The building’s superintendent was also among those charged.

Williamsburg Heroin Ring Dismantled in “Operation King Me”: Seven Charged

Eight members of a brazen drug traffi cking ring that cornered the heroin mar-ket in a section of North Williamsburg, Brooklyn were arrested in November. The defendants peddled heroin and crack in bodegas, apartments, lobbies and on street corners in the vicinity of the Cooper Park Houses, a New

More than $4 million in illegal prescription drugs bound for the Dominican Republic was seized from a house in Yonkers.

A violent drug traffi cking ring was implicated in a shoot-out on a Bronx street, after members of the crew were caught on videotape arming themselves and opening fi re in a bid to protect their turf.

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York City Housing Authority Development, and catered to customers from surrounding neighborhoods. The charges stem from more than 20 sales to undercover offi cers with the NYPD’s Brooklyn North Narcotics Bureau. No-torious for selling narcotics in open view, members of the ring appeared in Google Maps Street View photographs that depict one of their regular drug spots in front of a bodega at the intersection of Jackson Street and Kingsland Avenue. All of the undercover drug transactions took place within 1,000 feet of a preschool. The group was the subject of numerous community com-plaints.

SoHo Couple Peddled Crack

A couple that sold crack out of their basement apartment on a bustling block in SoHo was arrested in May following a long-term investigation. Antonio and Mary Henriques, who had been in the business of selling crack for at least three months, were the subject of community complaints at the time of their arrests. Undercover offi cers made numerous drug purchases from the couple and recorded some of the transactions on videotape. Buyers would line up early in the morning at the drug spot located close to designer shops and upscale apartment buildings. The couple’s conduct was so blatant, they could be seen selling crack in plain view to three customers on the very morning that detectives arrived to arrest them.

Twelve Drug Dealers Arrested at Brooklyn’s Tompkins Houses

Four loosely-tied drug traffi cking rings made over 100 sales of crack-cocaine and heroin to undercover offi cers and were dismantled in July. Police ar-rested 12 drug dealers who operated in and around the Tompkins Houses, a NYCHA Housing Development in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Drug sales were carried out in the lobbies, stairwells, elevators and hallways of the buildings. Members of the four groups would refer customers to one another. In a court authorized search of one apartment that was used as a stash house and located a few blocks away from the Tompkins Houses, police found a loaded fi rearm and 33 zip lock bags of crack.

Drug dealers spent so much time in front of a bodega in Williamsburg that they appeared in the Google Maps Street View images for the location.(Photo Courtesy of the New York Post)