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The bust comes after a joint investigation by county and federal law enforcement into drug trafficking in the area, said Capt. William McNamara.
Francisco R. Osorio Sagastume, 18, of 20 Eastview Ave., was arrested on Friday, Dec. 8, during a traffic stop by sheriff's deputies and investigators. Deputy Christopher Irwin and his K-9 partner Kato assisted in a search of the vehicle which found about one kilo of heroin inside, McNamara said.
The same evening, Eduardo Paiz-Ortega, 21, of 26 Oak St., was arrested when authorities armed with a search warrant went to an apartment that he occupied in Brewster and took him into custody there. A search of that apartment reportedly yielded approximately another kilo of heroin, he added.
The combined quantities of heroin seized in the case have an estimated street value of $200,000. According to investigators, it is one of the largest such seizures of the drug ever recorded in Putnam County, McNamara said.
Senior Investigator Thomas Corless, who heads the Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Enforcement Unit, credited a caller’s tip to the Sheriff’s Office Drug Hotline (845-225-DRUG) for initiating the investigation in the case.
As the investigation progressed, it widened to involve the joint efforts of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, the Putnam County District Attorney’s Office, the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Attorneys’ Office for the Southern District of New York.
The defendants were arrested on state charges of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first degree, a class A-I felony that could be punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
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