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Tag: drug trafficking ring

  • Authorities Seize Enough Fentanyl To Kill 14 Million People From Drug Ring

    Authorities Seize Enough Fentanyl To Kill 14 Million People From Drug Ring

    Law enforcement seized 30 kilograms of heroin, five kilograms of cocaine, 24 firearms and over $700,000 in cash in the massive bust.

    More than two-dozen law enforcement agencies descended on a drug-trafficking ring based in Virginia, and seized enough fentanyl to reportedly kill 14 million people.

    Federal prosecutors announced on August 29 that 35 individuals were arrested in Virginia, North Carolina and Texas for their alleged roles in the distribution organization, which was based in Hampton Roads, Virginia. Thirty kilograms of fentanyl, as well as 30 kilograms of heroin, five kilograms of cocaine, 24 firearms and over $700,000 in cash were also seized as part of “Operation Cookout.”

    Co-Conspirators

    Over 120 law enforcement officers were involved in the arrests, which were the culmination of a two-year investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces.

    According to the 108-page indictment, 39 co-conspirators, ages 19 to 63, were allegedly involved in what federal prosecutors described as a “large-scale drug trafficking organization” that began in March 2016.

    The 35 defendants and unindicted co-conspirators purchased narcotics from suppliers on both coasts and in Mexico and then have them shipped to their base of operations in the metropolitan region of Hampton Roads using a variety of transportation vehicles equipped with “hidden traps.” Reportedly, one suspect also requested fentanyl from a dealer in Shanghai, who shipped the drug to them via the U.S. Postal Service.

    Inside The Trafficking Ring

    Prosecutors also alleged that the defendants and co-conspirators used locations throughout the Hampton Roads area to prepare heroin, fentanyl, cocaine and cocaine base for distribution, as well as to meet and discuss future narcotics sales and distribution. 

    The co-conspirators reportedly used at least 94 different communication devices, pre-paid cell phones, as well as encrypted apps like FaceTime, to arrange locations for selling and buying drugs, as well as other “day-to-day operations,” as the indictment noted. 

    The 35 defendants arrested in Operation Cookout were charged with 106 counts of alleged offenses, including conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribution cocaine, heroin, cocaine base and fentanyl; conspiracy to launder money; felon in possession of a firearm; interstate travel in aid of racketeering enterprises; and illegal re-entry by a previously deported or removed alien.

    The indictment only alleged that the defendants committed a crime, and are presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

    “This massive interdiction of narcotics, which included enough fentanyl to kill over 14 million people, is proof positive of the power and strength of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies,” said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “This operation, through its seizure of scores of kilograms of illicit narcotics, saved lives in the Eastern District and elsewhere. Any day where we can do that is particularly meaningful and impactful.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Two Ex-MLB Players Accused Of Participating In Drug-Trafficking Ring

    Two Ex-MLB Players Accused Of Participating In Drug-Trafficking Ring

    Both men have claimed to have no involvement with the Caribbean drug-trafficking operation. 

    Two former Major League Baseball (MLB) players have been linked to a drug trafficking and money laundering operation in the Dominican Republic.

    Former pitcher Octavio Dotel and ex-infielder Luis Castillo—both Dominican-born and both World Series Winners in 2011 and 2003, respectively—were accused by authorities of helping to launder profits from a drug ring overseen by César “The Abuser” Peralta, whom authorities said is in charge of one of the “most important drug trafficking structures in the Caribbean.”

    Dotel was taken into custody in the Dominican Republic on Monday (Aug. 19), while Castillo remained at home in Florida; both men have claimed no involvement with Peralta’s organization.

    Laundering Profits

    The implications were announced by the attorney general of the Dominican Republic, Jean Alain Rodríguez, on Wednesday (Aug. 21). CNN noted that while charges against the two former MLB players remain unspecified, both were accused of laundering profits from Peralta’s drug operation as part of a larger network of businesses and individuals, including family members.

    “Eighteen other people are linked to this network, including athletes and baseball players Octavio Dotel and Luis Castillo,” said Rodriguez at a news conference. He added that Dominican authorities, in conjunction with the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), were cooperating in the search for Peralta and the 18 aforementioned individuals.

    The New York Times stated that the investigation by Dominican officials has already seized a 1,050-kilogram shipment of drugs from South America that was linked to Peralta’s alleged ring.

    Castillo Speaks

    Castillo responded to the accusation on social media, where he wrote, “The truth is my country no longer works, my God, do you think that after making millions in Baseball I am going to dirty my hands with drugs?”

    Castillo’s attorney, Darren Heitner, told CNN that he “simply lack[ed] any information whatsoever” about the allegations against his client, and claimed that the Dominican attorney general’s office hung up on him when he called to inquire about the indictment.

    Neither news organization listed a comment from Dotel.

    Castillo was a three-time All-Star and Gold Glove second baseman whose 15-year major league career included a World Series title as part of the Florida Marlins in 2003 and stints with the Minnesota Twins and New York Mets.

    Dotel held the record for playing for the largest number of teams—13 between 1999 and 2013. He earned his World Series ring as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals in 2011. Two years later, he also claimed the World Baseball Classic title as part of the Dominican team.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Celebs Petition Trump To Commute Sentence For Rapper Loon

    Celebs Petition Trump To Commute Sentence For Rapper Loon

    Grammy-winning singer Faith Evans, rapper Baby Bash and NBA All-Star Kevin Garnett are among the signees of the petition. 

    A contingent of entertainment industry figures is rallying around an effort to have President Donald Trump free a former hip-hop artist serving a 14-year prison sentence for heroin trafficking.

    Former Bad Boy recording artist, Loon, is the subject of a letter to Trump and petition filed by former music producer turned criminal justice advocate Weldon Angelos who served 13 of a 55-year sentence for firearm possession and charges related to marijuana trafficking, and who hopes that a presidential commutation of sentence could act as a “bridge building” effort between the White House and the entertainment industry.

    Among the letter’s signees are Grammy-winning singer Faith Evans, rapper Baby Bash, and Alice Johnson, whom Trump released from prison in 2018.

    Loon, who was born Chauncey Hawkins, earned a Top 10 album with his eponymous debut release for Bad Boy in 2003, and collaborated with label chief Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, Usher and Toni Braxton before parting ways with the music industry in 2008 and converting to Islam.

    As Amir Junaid Muhadith, he worked as a motivational speaker but was arrested in 2011 for his involvement with individuals operating a drug-trafficking ring in North Carolina. Having been convicted of two prior felonies, Loon declined to go to trial and accepted the 14-year sentence to avoid, in his words, “mandatory life in prison [with] no hopes of parole.”

    In the petition, Angelos cited Trump’s own statements about prison reform, including comments issued after the commutation of Alice Johnson’s sentence, in which the president said, “Those who have paid their debt to society and worked hard to better themselves while in prison deserve a second chance.”

    Johnson had served 21 years of a life sentence for conspiracy to possess cocaine and attempted possession of cocaine before Kim Kardashian West pled her case to the White House.

    Angelos also sees the commutation as an opportunity for Trump to forge a connection to the entertainment industry, which has, in many cases, kept him at arms’ length. “His case is like a bridge builder,” said Angelos. “Now we can bring entertainers to the White House who would disagree with Trump otherwise.”

    Angelos said that he plans to deliver the letter to the White House within the next three weeks. In addition to Evans, Baby Bash and Johnson, the public figures that have added their names to the letter include producers Stevie J., Kevin McCall and Michael Goldstein, rappers Freeway and Benzino; film producers Marc Levin and Scott Budnick; Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Damon “Dame” Dash; former Minnesota Timberwolves/Boston Celtics great Kevin Garnett; and CAN-DO founder Amy Povah.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Counterfeit Pill Ring Ran Out Of Vacant Apartment Busted By Police

    Counterfeit Pill Ring Ran Out Of Vacant Apartment Busted By Police

    The building’s super allegedly used a vacant apartment and boiler room to manufacture and package the illicit pills. 

    Three men were arrested and charged in the Bronx with alleged production and distribution of black market pills. Lab tests determined that pills said to be oxycodone were actually a dangerous mixture of heroin and fentanyl, while the 50 purported ecstasy pills contained pure methamphetamine.

    ABC 7 News reported that the men involved, Agustin Vasquez Chavez, Yefri Hernandez-Ozoria, and Roberto Castillo, are facing multiple drug charges after two separate arrests.

    The first arrest occurred in July when undercover cops on 201st Street and Grand Concourse purchased two bags of pills for $5,000. Chavez and Ozoria allegedly sold 860 pills as oxycodone and another bag of 50 pills as ecstasy (or MDMA).

    On September 11 police executed a second sting operation and arrested Chavez and Ozoria. Police confiscated approximately 3,000 purported oxycodone pills that looked to match the pills purchased on July 31.

    Law enforcement is awaiting the results of DEA laboratory analysis.

    Roberto Castillo is the superintendent of a five-story apartment building in the Bronx. Castillo allegedly used a vacant apartment and boiler room in this building to package and manufacture pills. Castillo worked with Chavez and Ozoria, who allegedly sold the manufactured and falsely labeled drugs in a large-scale black market pill distribution ring.

    All three men were arrested and charged on September 11 in connection with an alleged conspiracy to produce and distribute black market pills containing heroin, fentanyl, and meth, officials said. Chavez and Ozoria were arrested first, after which police were granted permission to search the boiler room and vacant apartment in Castillo’s building. There, in the boiler room, police found a pill press machine. 

    The boiler room and apartment were being used as a pill manufacturing operation, which included a pill press machine, pill press imprints designed to create oxycodone markings, multiple surgical masks and a vacuum sealer. The apartment contained a refrigerator filled with yet-unknown substances in assorted colors, as well as drug paraphernalia such as cutting agents, grinders and containers.

    According to an official, 420 grams of a heroin/fentanyl mixture were found in a suitcase, in addition to nearly 180 grams of methamphetamine and approximately 1,000 counterfeit oxycodone pills.

    “Narcotics traffickers have long exploited the nation’s high demand for pain pills, a powerful gateway to addiction, but this investigation reveals an even more deviant scheme—an organization creating and distributing counterfeit pills with highly potent and lethal compounds, manufactured in an apartment right next to the boiler room,” said Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan in a statement.

    View the original article at thefix.com