MULTI-STATE DRUG TRAFFICKING RING SHUT DOWN - GRAND JURY INDICTS LEADERS AND UNDERLINGS ON CHARGES OF CONSPIRACY AND OTHER OFFENSES INVOLVING THE SALE AND POSSESSION OF HEROIN, COCAINE AND MARIJUANA

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that a Bronx based narcotics ring that earned an approximately $1,000,000 a year as wholesalers for street level drug dealers has been shut down following a sixteen month investigation.

District Attorney Johnson said that indictments were unsealed charging 17 individuals, including the ring’s leaders, with a total of 21 counts of conspiracy, as well as the possession and sale of heroin, cocaine and marijuana.

The charges were the result of evidence uncovered through court ordered wiretaps on the cellular telephones of the accused and extensive surveillance of the defendants as they engaged in high volume narcotics transactions. During the course of the investigation authorities learned of the group’s ties to drug traffickers in Las Vegas, Nevada, Phoenix, Arizona, Wilmington, Delaware and Puerto Rico. All of the defendants were linked to the web of the alleged conspiracy through detailed telephone conversations about specific activities by people affiliated with the drug trafficking ring. The conversations included information regarding the quantities of narcotics delivered, purchase and sale prices, identities of the couriers, and the times and locations of meetings between buyers and sellers.

The alleged leaders of the drug distribution ring have been identified as Jose Roman, 37, aka Boli, of 129 East 102nd Street, Manhattan, and Angel Castro, 31, of Newark, Delaware. Roman and Castro have been charged with 2 counts of Conspiracy in the 2nd degree, a Class B felony offense. Roman has also been indicted on 1 count each of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the 1st degree, and Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the 1st degree, both Class A-1 felony offenses, Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the 3rd degree, a Class B felony offense and Conspiracy in the 4th degree, a Class E felony offense. The most serious offense, Conspiracy in the 2nd degree is punishable by a maximum sentence of up to 25 years imprisonment.

The indictment focuses on high volume drug transactions that occurred on four separate occasions. It is alleged that on May 4, 2006, Julio Carmona, 37, of 55 East 99th Street, Manhattan, Louis Rivera, 45, of 1519 Metropolitan Avenue, the Bronx, and George Carmona, 36, of Hamden, Connecticut, acted in concert with each other in the sale of 8 pounds of marijuana to a buyer who has been charged in a separate complaint. The transaction occurred at a Mobil Gasoline Station on Bruckner Boulevard in the Soundview section of the Bronx. Julio Carmona, George Carmona, and Louis Rivera have been charged with Criminal Sale of Marijuana in the 1st degree, a Class C felony offense, and Criminal Possession of Marijuana in the 2nd degree, a Class D felony offense. The marijuana possession charge stems from an incident that occurred 4 days later on May 8, 2006 when investigators intercepted and seized a package containing 10 pounds of marijuana that the defendants were expecting via United Parcel Service. Rivera, a UPS employee, was arrested this morning.

It is alleged that on May 22, 2006, Jose Roman sold 3 kilos (nearly six and a half pounds) of cocaine to Melquisede Carrero,31, aka Melky, of 327 East 108th Street, the Bronx, on behalf of Julio Carmona. Carrero took possession of the narcotics in a parking lot near 645 Westchester Avenue, in the Bronx and was followed by investigators to a garage near East 100th Street and Lexington Avenue, in Manhattan where he was arrested. Carrero has been charged in this indictment with Conspiracy in the 2nd degree, and is being prosecuted on the drug possession charges by the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor.

Two other narcotics transactions which have resulted in charges being filed by the grand jury occurred on June 16, 2006 and June 21, 2006 when John Torres, 36, aka Jay, of 1107 Bryant Avenue, the Bronx, allegedly possessed and sold on those two dates, 400 glassine envelopes and 300 glassine envelopes containing heroin. Torres has been charged with 2 counts of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the 2nd degree, 4 counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the 3rd degree, 2 counts each of Conspiracy in the 2nd and 4th degrees.

Ten remaining defendants named in the indictment allegedly worked for the distribution ring in various capacities and have all been charged with conspiracy. Following are those defendants who have been charged with Conspiracy in the 2nd degree: Raymond Arroyo, 27, of 1277 Shakespeare Avenue, the Bronx; Julio Cintron, 32, of 117 East 101st Street, Manhattan; Nelson Estrada, 30, aka Skinny Nell, of 1410 Park Avenue, Manhattan; Myra Fuentes, 35, of 1107 Bryant Avenue, the Bronx; William Mejia, 1809 Third Avenue, the Bronx; Seon Phillips, 29, aka Pluck, of Wilmington, Delaware; Farrah Rodriguez, 28, of 645 Westchester Avenue, the Bronx; and Rey Rodriguez, 34, of 2390 Second Avenue, Manhattan. Charged with Conspiracy in the 4th degree are Louis Aponte, 30, of 999 East 163rd Street, the Bronx and Miguel Roman, 32, of 3555 Olinville Avenue, the Bronx.

While the Bronx and Manhattan formed the epicenter of the drug ring, it has also been linked to illegal narcotics activity in Wilmington, Delaware, where one of the alleged leaders, Angel Castro, resided. Castro’s alleged partner Jose Roman maintained multiple residences in Manhattan, Puerto Rico, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Phoenix, Arizona where he was arrested before being returned to the Bronx to face these charges. The investigation uncovered evidence that Puerto Rico was the source of the cocaine and marijuana that the ring distributed, while the heroin was shipped from Arizona. The illegal drugs were shipped via United Parcel Service. Investigators intercepted three of those deliveries including a package to Delaware containing 106 grams of Black Tar heroin which was hidden in the bottom of a toy Elmo, the Sesame Street character. A portion of that heroin was to have been sent to New York to be sold. The package was seized on July 3, 2006.

District Attorney Johnson said the scope of this drug ring’s operation was such that the investigation required the cooperative efforts of numerous law enforcement agencies: Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor, Office of the Manhattan District Attorney, Office of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District, the New York City Police Department, the Phoenix Office of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the Maricopa County District Attorney’s Office, and the Delaware State Police. Mr. Johnson also thanked the Security Division of the United Parcel Service for its assistance. District Attorney Johnson noted that this investigation could not have been successful without the assistance of the New York Office of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

District Attorney Johnson said that he was particularly appreciative of the diligence and hard work of Detectives Wilford Pinkney and Sergio Conde of the DA’s Squad (NYPD), Assistant District Attorney Edward Friedenthal, Counsel to the Gang Prosecution / Major Case Bureau, Assistant District Attorney Jeremy Shockett and Assistant District Attorney Adam Oustatcher.