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(Mineola, NY/77WABC)- Nassau County District Attorney, Madelyn Singas Monday announced the arrests and subsequent indictment of 40 individuals charged with drug trafficking in the Tri-State area, California and Puerto Rico.
An investigation dubbed “Operation Honeycomb.” began in 2019 into the major drug trafficking ring operating in the Hempstead area. Singas announced the ring was run by nine alleged leaders; Able McTootle, Eric Butler, Willy Matias, Allen Evans, Eric Poston, Matthew Williams a/k/a Vernon Howard, Orlando Ramsay, Rodney Highsmith, and an unapprehended co-defendant. The crime of operating as a major trafficker requires the aggregate value of narcotics possessed or sold by the trafficker to exceed $75,000 during a period of six months or less. The charge carries a potential maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
Officials allege two of the suspects were discovered to be conducting business from unlicensed daycare centers located in Hempstead and Rosedale. “Children were eating and playing and being cared for in the same space where cocaine was being packaged,” Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas said Monday.
NCDA: Nine Major Traffickers Indicted in 18-Month Investigation into Hempstead Narcotics Ringhttps://t.co/7Ut7DUNwp3
— Nassau DA (@NassauDA) March 15, 2021
The street value of the narcotics seized is estimated to be approximately $2,772,000.
As a result of the investigation, the following items were recovered through search warrants and car stops:
- 38 firearms, including assault weapons and ammunition
- 9.5 kilograms of nearly pure cocaine – approximately 31,000 doses
- Approximately 1.5 kilograms of crack cocaine – approximately 5,000 doses
- More than one kilogram of heroin – 36,000 individual doses
- 250 grams of fentanyl – enough to provide 36,000 fatal doses
- 210 grams of morphine – approximately 42,000 individual doses
- More than $380,000 in cash
Five defendants allegedly sold a cocktail of heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine. One defendant allegedly cut heroin with fentanyl and morphine.
Data from the County Medical Examiner’s toxicology lab through September 2020, indicates that fatal overdoses have spiked more than 30%. Additionally, an opioid was detected in 83% of the fatal overdoses involving cocaine.
The arrests are the result of an 18-month investigation by the NCDA; Federal Bureau of Investigation Long Island Gang Task Force; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Long Island Field Division; the Nassau County Police Department; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; the New York State Police; and Drug Enforcement Administration. The Task Force includes members of the FBI, New York State Police, Nassau County Police, Suffolk County Police, Hempstead Police and Rockville Centre Police departments, as well as the Nassau County and Suffolk County sheriff’s departments.
Seven of the defendants remain at large.
