Suffolk County authorities rounded up 22 people who were busted an alleged drug dealing ring that supplied eastern Long Island with five kilograms of heroin and two kilos of cocaine every two weeks.
Using undercover officers, electronic surveillance and wiretaps, investigators identified the two alleged suppliers as 25-year-old Juan Smith of Valley Stream and Elvis Castro, 28, of Amityville following a probe that lasted more than a year.
“Buyers met with sellers on side streets near Sunrise Highway or the LIE,” Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said. “Some steady purchasers merited door-to-door delivery of heroin.”
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Investigators seized more than $200,000 in cash, a dozen firearms including an AK-47 assault rifle, kilos of heroin and cocaine and packaging while executing search warrants, including one at a Brentwood drug house, prosecutors said.
The suspects allegedly sold heroin and cocaine to as many as 20 drug buyers per day in Setauket, Stony Brook, Nesconset, Miller Place, Hauppauge, Smithtown, St. James, Lindenhurst, Amityville, Copiague, West Islip, Islip, Bay Shore, Holbrook and Ronkonkoma. Most buyers, ranging in age from 22 to 65, purchased bundles—10 bags—of heroin.
Smith and Castro were each charged with conspiracy to distribute heroin and cocaine. They were both ordered held without bail last week and are due back in court Thursday.
