Below is a list of some of the Big Drug Busts that have occurred between 2007-2012.
The stories give cost comparatives for purchases in LI and in the city (Bronx & Brooklyn.)
In these articles there are names of the suspected kingpins, what they sold, who they sold to and how much dealers paid for the product and then what they charged the drug users. There is also some detail about the strength.
One thing that stood out was that 10 baggies went for $200 in LI. In the city and buying straight from a bigger dealer, the cost could be as low as $100. So, if ALC could pull in $7,000 a week, keeping $4000...then, even at $200 a day she would still have had about $2500/week left over...even more if she were buying from a higher up source and paying $100 for ten sleeves.
Another thing to note is the timing on these big drug busts...
Heroin Busts in Sufflolk & Nassau Counties (Brooklyn Connection)
2008 Nassau County 12 Arrested Brooklyn connection JULY 10th, 2008
http://www.policeone.com/drug-inter...1463-N-Y-police-bust-heroin-ring-12-arrested/
2009 March, 15, 2009
2009 July 25, 2009
http://www.longislandpress.com/2009/08/05/suffolk-announces-its-largest-heroin-bust/
Heroin Task Force on July 25 in the parking lot of the Extended Stay America hotel in Melville...Two illegal immigrants living in New Jersey were arrested in the bust.
Abraham Lopez-Perez, 23, of Elizabeth and Odir Mora, 30, of Fords, New Jersey pleaded not guilty to a charge of first degree criminal possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell. They are being held on $300,000 cash bail and will be back in Suffolk County court on Thursday.
The previous heroin weight record in Suffolk was 6.6 pounds, or three kilos, seized by the task force in March of this year from Gilberto “Macho” Rivera of Oakdale and 12 members of his crew, Spota said. Before that, there was a 1.1-pounds heroin seizure in 1995.
2009 Suffolk County (Babylon & West Islip) December 16, 2009
The New York City Police Department assisted in the raid, which uncovered 35 bags of heroin that Carlos Muniz threw out the window of his apartment, Spota said. Police radios, scanner equipment and a bulletproof vest were also confiscated, he added. At the time of his arrest, Juan Muniz, a prior felony offender, had a narcotics warrant for his arrest.
The other New York City alleged heroin ring was also based in Brooklyn, authorities said.
Carlos Sanchez, 33, of Brooklyn, who shared some customers with the Muniz brothers, often sold the heroin to Long Island customers at a gas station parking lot, authorities said. He allegedly had 177 bags of heroin on him while waiting for a customer at the time of his arrest.Sanchez pleaded not guilty last month to similar charges and is out on $20,000 cash bail.
The Suffolk-based dealers were just as busy, investigators said.
Michelle Atkinson, 32, of West Babylon, sold about $72,000 worth of heroin that she bought in Brooklyn over a period of six months and sold the drugs in Suffolk for more than double the price, prosecutors said.
“She averaged the purchase of 5 sleeves of heroin, or about 500 bags, per week from both Brooklyn suppliers,” said Spota of Atkinson, who operates a towing business in the Ronkonkoma area. Atkinson’s roommate, Denise Ward, 40, was also charged with conspiracy.
A Nesconset man, 27-year-old Lee Colfin, was arrested last month at a gas station in Smithtown.
Colfin “was observed selling heroin at a gas station and at fast food outlets in Smithtown to customers as young as 17,” Spota said. Investigators said they found 77 bags of heroin, packaging materials and hypodermic needles stored in a safe in his Leary Lane home. He also pleaded not guilty and remains in jail.
Glenn Second, 47, of West Islip was busted for 70 bags of heroin, 20 of them in his shoes, and another 50 bags in his home, investigators said.
“We remain vigilant and steadfast in our resolve to eradicate the heroin scourge plaguing our community,” said John Gilbride, the Special Agent-In-Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New York Field Division. “Today’s arrests are a small step in solving a bigger problem.”
Tags: Brooklyn, Carlos Muniz, Carlos Sanchez, Denise Ward, Glenn Second, Heroin, Juan Muniz, Lee Colfin, Michelle Atkinson, Nesconset, New York City Police Department, Ronkonkoma, Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota
2011 January 25, 2011
Twenty three alleged heroin dealers have been rounded up, including three suspected drug kingpins who are accused of selling more than 1 million doses of dope at a street value of up to $11 million within the past year.
Suffolk County authorities said Frank Conte, a 29-year-old Bronx man out on bail for allegedly murdering a bartender, supplied raw heroin to three men who diluted and packaged the drugs in Queens and the Bronx before reselling 15,000 bags per week to 19 “runners” that supplied Suffolk users. The arrests over the past six weeks followed a 16-month wiretap investigation in which the accused dealers allegedly re-established the ring just two days after police raided one of their stash houses.
Ricardo Rifino, 27 (also arrested in 2009 case and was awaitng trial when he is arrested again in 2011) was charged with operating as a major drug trafficker and conspiracy along with alleged co-conspirators 32-year-old Carlos Melendez of the Bronx and 27-year-old Joel Guzman of Queens. The trafficking charge is punishable by up to 25-years-to-life in prison.
All three have pleaded not guilty at Suffolk County court. Guzman was denied bail, bail for Melenz was set at $1 million cash or $2 million bond and bail for Rifino was set at $500,000 cash or $ 1 million bond.
Suffolk County police initially raided Rifino’s Sayville home in 2009, seizing 2,500 bags of heroin and $80,000 in cash, Spota said. He had moved to Bethpage, pleaded guilty in that case and was awaiting sentencing when he was arrested again on the latest charges.
Five-thousand bags of heroin, 200 grams of raw heroin and two handgun were seized when cops raided the Queens stash house. Authorities said some of the brand names of the heroin allegedly being dealt include “Sweet Death,” “Starbucks,” “MySpace,” “Johnson & Johnson,” “Gotta Have It” and “Kneebender.”
Mark-up on a sleeve—100 decks, or individual $10 glassine envelopes of heroin—jumped from $500 in New York City to $1,000 when it reached LI buyers. Bundles, or 10 decks, jumped from $100 to up to $150, with prices increasing because of such drug busts, authorities said.
2012 March 13, 2012
Suffolk County 26 yo "Jose Perez" (Brooklyn, west & Central Islip Connections Again)
http://www.longislandpress.com/2012/07/11/central-islip-womans-death-ruled-a-homicide/)
http://westislip.patch.com/articles/locals-nabbed-in-heroin-sting-operation
According to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, those indicted included Tina Catrini (alias Tina Bonghi), 29, of Farmingville; Matthew Catrini, 24, of Farmingville; Josephine (Josephina) Javis, 50, of West Islip; Ronald (Pops) Stern, 68, of Blue Point; and Corey Stern, 37, of Blue Point.
The five local residents were among 20 members of the Perez Organization who were indicted, law enforcement officials said, noting the organization is an alleged drug trafficking ring with conspiracy to distribute heroin. The defendants were arrested on Tuesday and were arraigned before United States Magistrate Judge Gary R. Brown at the United States Courthouse in Central Islip.
“As alleged in the indictment, the Perez Organization was responsible for a significant portion of the heroin distributed on Long Island,” said Janice K. Fedarcyk, FBI Assistant Director in Charge. “Heroin use among suburban teens is alarmingly popular, and today’s heroin is more potent and less expensive than ever. A potentially lethal dose can be purchased for about the cost of a pack of cigarettes or a six-pack of beer."
The agents also executed search warrants at four heroin storage locations in Queens, Brooklyn, and Roosevelt, New York, resulting in the seizure of, among other things, heroin with a street value of more than $30,000 and thousands of dollars in cash, law enforcement officials said.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/...oin_bust_J49DikUUBaZ8p0JgNgqlUM#ixzz21NJaakSP
Agents took 20 people into custody -- a group that allegedly had drugs estimated to have a street value of at least $2.75 million.
Among those being charged are a retired Suffolk County police officer and his daughter, authorities said.
The spouse of an NYPD officer was also rounded up in the bust.
Authorities say the ringleader is Jose Perez, 26, who oversaw a heroin distribution scheme that focused on suburban customers living on Long Island.
The FBI, aided by Nassau County police and other law enforcement agencies, were making arrests in Nassau and Suffolk Counties, as well as in Brooklyn and Queens in New York City, officials said.
Those arrested will be arraigned later today before judges in Central Islip federal court.
Read more:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/...oin_bust_J49DikUUBaZ8p0JgNgqlUM#ixzz21NJaakSP
Just more info to chew on...