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Narcotics Trafficking

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High-Ranking MS-13 Leader Arraigned On Terrorism Charges In NY After FBI's 'Most Wanted' Arrest High-Ranking MS-13 Leader Arraigned On Terrorism Charges In NY After FBI's 'Most Wanted' Arrest
High-Ranking MS-13 Leader Arraigned On Terrorism Charges In NY After FBI's 'Most Wanted' Arrest A top leader of the notorious MS-13 gang, who was recently added to the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list, has been arraigned in federal court in New York. Francisco Javier Roman-Bardales, 47, was taken into custody in San Diego, California, on Tuesday, March 18, after Mexican authorities located him in Veracruz and expelled him from the country, the US Attorney’s Office said. He had been a fugitive for nearly three years. Roman-Bardales, a founding member of MS-13’s leadership structure known as Ranfla en las Calles, was arraigned in the Eastern District of New York on Wednesday, March 1…

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by Michael Mashburn
Police & Fire
Fugitive Wanted For Narcotics Trafficking Caught With Gun At Westchester Gas Station Fugitive Wanted For Narcotics Trafficking Caught With Gun At Westchester Gas Station
Fugitive Wanted For Narcotics Trafficking Caught With Gun At Westchester Gas Station A fugitive wanted on federal narcotics trafficking charges and his two passengers were taken into custody following a traffic stop at a gas station in Westchester, police announced.  The arrests stemmed from an incident on Monday, Jan. 29 that began around 10:15 a.m., when authorities saw a 2023 Hyundai Sonata with tinted windows and an expired North Carolina registration traveling east on the Cross County Parkway, Westchester County Police said on Thursday, Feb. 1.  Officers then followed the Hyundai to New Rochelle Road in Eastchester and pulled it over as it entered a…

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by Ben Crnic
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Police Officer, Westchester Man Nabbed For Planning To Distribute Fentanyl, Heroin: Feds Police Officer, Westchester Man Nabbed For Planning To Distribute Fentanyl, Heroin: Feds
Police Officer, Westchester Man Nabbed For Planning To Distribute Fentanyl, Heroin: Feds A police officer and a Westchester man face years in prison for conspiring to distribute narcotics, officials announced.  New York City Police Officer and Bronx resident Grace Rosa Baez, age 37, and Yonkers resident Cesar Martinez, age 43, were both arrested on narcotics distribution charges, the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced on Friday, Oct. 20. According to federal officials, between Monday, Oct. 9, and Thursday, Oct. 19, Baez and Martinez had several conversations about wholesale narcotics trafficking with a "confidential source" worki…

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by Ben Crnic
Police & Fire
Police In Northern Westchester Help Nab Suspects Of Local Narcotics Ring Police In Northern Westchester Help Nab Suspects Of Local Narcotics Ring
Police In Northern Westchester Help Nab Suspects Of Local Narcotics Ring A months-long operation into a local narcotics trafficking organization in Northern Fairfield County resulted in four arrests and the seizure of large amounts of drugs and cash, police said.  The arrests resulted from the execution of 18 search warrants and an arrest warrant by the Brookfield and Danbury Police Departments on Wednesday, March 8 that stemmed from a months-long investigation into a local narcotics trafficking organization.  The investigation, known as "Operation Trinity Café," began when police responded to a non-fatal overdose in Brookfield and learned that Da…

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by Ben Crnic
Police & Fire
14 Hudson Valley Gang Members, Associates Charged With Racketeering, Narcotics, Other Offenses 14 Hudson Valley Gang Members, Associates Charged With Racketeering, Narcotics, Other Offenses
14 Hudson Valley Gang Members, Associates Charged With Racketeering, Narcotics, Other Offenses The FBI and other law enforcement officials in the Hudson Valley raided numerous homes in a warrant sweep charging 14 members of a street gang for committing various racketeering, narcotics, and firearms offenses.  The "takedown," took place in Orange and Dutchess counties on Thursday, Dec. 1, focusing on Poughkeepsie and the city of Newburgh, said Damian Williams, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York. An indictment charges several members of the Young Gunnaz Gang, aka “YG," with acts of violence. This includes Kashad Sampson, aka “Shoca,” a YG leader who is charged w…

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by Kathy Reakes
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DEA Bust Nets 15,000 Fentanyl Pills During NY Traffic Stop DEA Bust Nets 15,000 Fentanyl Pills During NY Traffic Stop
DEA Bust Nets 15,000 Fentanyl Pills During NY Traffic Stop One person was arrested and approximately 15,000 fentanyl pills were seized as part of an ongoing investigation into a fentanyl trafficking organization.  The seizure took place on the Manhattan side of the Lincoln Tunnel on Wednesday, Sept. 28, when DEA agents stopped a New Jersey woman. The drugs were found when the DEA Task Force was conducting surveillance as part of an ongoing investigation into narcotics trafficking when they allegedly observed Latesha Bush, a 48-year-old Trenton, New Jersey, resident carrying what appeared to be a black tote bag wrapped around a large object as …

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by Kathy Reakes
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Fugitive MS-13 Member Extradited From El Salvador To Face Murder, Other Charges In NY Fugitive MS-13 Member Extradited From El Salvador To Face Murder, Other Charges In NY
Fugitive MS-13 Member Extradited From El Salvador To Face Murder, Other Charges In NY An MS-13 gang member accused of taking part in the brutal killing of a 20-year-old man on Long Island has been extradited to the United States. Jose Jonathan Guevara-Castro was extradited from El Salvador on Tuesday, Aug. 9, nearly a month after the country’s top court gave the green light, the US Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District announced. Guevara-Castro, also known as “Suspechoso,” had been detained in El Salvador since August 2020, weeks after he was indicted by a federal grand jury in Central Islip for the murder of Kerin Pineda. The former Freeport High School student’s body …

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by Michael Mashburn
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Leader Of Hudson Valley "Southside" Street Gang Charged With Murder, Firearms Offenses Leader Of Hudson Valley "Southside" Street Gang Charged With Murder, Firearms Offenses
Leader Of Hudson Valley "Southside" Street Gang Charged With Murder, Firearms Offenses An alleged street gang leader in the Hudson Valley is facing life in prison after being charged with murder and firearms offenses, federal prosecutors announced. Ardae Hines - also known as “Young Money,” and “YM” - a leader of the Orange County “Southside” street gang in the city of Newburgh, is facing multiple charges for his role in the 2016 murder of Deandric Little. Prosecutors said between 2014 and June 2017, the “Southside Gang” operated around the intersection of South Street and Chambers Street in Newburgh. According to the indictment, to gain funds for the gang, protect the gang’…

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by Zak Failla
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Gang Leader Admits To Murdering Man During Card Game In Area Gang Leader Admits To Murdering Man During Card Game In Area
Gang Leader Admits To Murdering Man During Card Game In Area A gang leader is facing life in prison after admitting to murdering a man and injuring two others while robbing a card game being played on the sidewalk in front of a laundromat in the area. Skylar “S-Dot” Davis, 22, a “Southside” gang leader, pleaded guilty this week to his role in a racketeering conspiracy, and to murdering Samuel Stubbs during a robbery as he was playing cards on Lander Street in 2015. U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said that as part of his guilty plea, Davis - who was already in prison for weapon and drug charges - also admitted to committing or helping to commit an addi…

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by Zak Failla
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New Indictment Served To Ex-Cop In Briarcliff Accused Of Killing Four New Indictment Served To Ex-Cop In Briarcliff Accused Of Killing Four
New Indictment Served To Ex-Cop In Briarcliff Accused Of Killing Four A new indictment has been filed against a former police officer in three Westchester municipalities and one in Dutchess who may face the death penalty after allegedly being involved in the murders of four men in Orange County in 2016. Late in 2016, Nicholas Tartaglione, a former Briarcliff Manor police officer, was charged in a five-count indictment for his participation in a drug conspiracy to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine and for the murders of four men, all of whom lived in Middletown. This week, a new indictment was filed against Tartaglione, charging him with four cou…

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by Zak Failla
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Westchester Man Charged With August 2018 Murder Westchester Man Charged With August 2018 Murder
Westchester Man Charged With August 2018 Murder A 26-year-old man may face death after he was charged with murdering someone earlier this year to benefit his marijuana distribution ring, U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman announced on Thursday. Barry Johnson of Mount Vernon has been charged with aiding and abetting the murder of David DeGrace on Aug. 26 to further a drug distribution conspiracy. Johnson was arrested on Thursday, Dec. 20 in Mount Vernon and appeared in court later in the day. On the day of the fatal shooting, DeGrace, 36, was at his South Seventh Avenue apartment in Mount Vernon, where he was killed. “Last summer, David …

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by Zak Failla
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Genovese Crime Family Member From Westchester Destroys Evidence, Obstructs Justice, Feds Say Genovese Crime Family Member From Westchester Destroys Evidence, Obstructs Justice, Feds Say
Genovese Crime Family Member From Westchester Destroys Evidence, Obstructs Justice, Feds Say A member of the Genevose Crime Family of La Cosa Nostra already charged with the stabbing death of a Westchester man is now facing new charges for destroying evidence and obstructing justice, prosecutors announced. John Tortora Jr., known as "Johnny T," was arrested in August by FBI agents and Yonkers Police in connection with the 1997 death of 29-year-old Richard Ortiz in Yonkers. Tortora, 61, of Yonkers, had previously been indicted on charges of racketeering conspiracy, murder in the aid of racketeering and murder for hire. He was arrested on Aug. 3 and has been remanded in cus…

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by Zak Failla
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Westchester Man Nabbed In Cold-Case La Cosa Nostra Mob Hit Westchester Man Nabbed In Cold-Case La Cosa Nostra Mob Hit
Westchester Man Nabbed In Cold-Case La Cosa Nostra Mob Hit A member of the La Cosa Nostra organized crime family is facing murder charges in the cold-case fatal stabbing of a Westchester man, prosecutors announced. John Tortora Jr., known as "Johnny T," a member of the Genovese Crime Family, was arrested by FBI agents and Yonkers Police in connection with the 1997 death of 29-year-old Richard Ortiz in Yonkers. “The arrest of John Tortora should remind everyone that justice delayed is not justice denied," FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr. said. "Whether a crime was allegedly committed decades ago or just days ago, the…

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by Joe Lombardi
News
10 Hudson Valley Gang Members Face New Charges 10 Hudson Valley Gang Members Face New Charges
10 Hudson Valley Gang Members Face New Charges Nearly a dozen members of a Newburgh street gang face additional racketeering and firearms charges, according to the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan. Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, David M. Hoovler, the Orange County District Attorney, William F. Sweeney Jr., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the FBI, Ashan M. Benedict, the New York Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), and Aaron Weaver, the Acting Chief of the City of Newburgh Police Department, announced add…

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by Jon Craig