Post by backdoorit on Jan 15, 2012 8:33:43 GMT -5
More than 120 men and women from Long Island have been arrested on drug charges, as police have targeted those shuttling between the suburbs and New York City to buy cheaper heroin to mix with prescription painkillers to snort, prosecutors said Friday.
A dozen suspected drug dealers running an operation mostly out of Queens have been arrested, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
Men and woman, mostly ages 20 to 25, from towns like Smithtown, would dial up the dealers, and get on the Long Island Expressway to meet at designated hotels, restaurants and diners to buy $400 worth of heroin. The same drugs would’ve cost up to $1,500 on Long Island, authorities said.
The ring “catered almost exclusively to drug buyers from the eastern end of Long Island, virtually turning the Long Island Expressway into the ‘Heroin Highway’,” Brown said.
New York Police Department Inspector Michael Bryan said the drugs were believed to have come from South America, and the users would buy a so-called “sleeve” of heroin which is about 100 packets. He said the cheaper prices spread by word-of-mouth through the small towns. Most of the people arrested came from Suffolk County, the furthest county east.
“It became quite popular with the crowd out there,” he said, later adding “Most of them came from good families, seemingly having it all.”
In total, 121 suspected users were arrested during the past year. Many have been arraigned on drug charges and will go through drug treatment programs.
The suspected dealers were charged with drug dealing and other crimes. One man was arrested with a loaded handgun, allegedly on his way to shoot a customer who owed him money. The suspected ringleader, Jermel Broadhurst, was charged with operating as a major trafficker and criminal sale of a controlled substance. It wasn’t clear who was representing him, and there was no answer at his home address.
Police say heroin use is skyrocketing on Long Island, where it’s used to mix with powerful painkillers like Oxycodone.
