MOTT HAVEN, The Bronx (WABC) — More than 30 people were busted in the Bronx for their alleged roles in crime rings that for years have terrorized a community known as “The Hub.”<\/p>\n
The major takedown involved five different criminal operations in the South Bronx, and the Bronx district attorney said the suspects bragged that the drugs they sold were so strong that users collapsed in the streets.<\/p>\n
“My friend, Stanley and I were just walking and talking about how it’s gotten better,” said South Bronx resident Amelia Moore.<\/p>\n
On Monday afternoon, the intersection where four major streets converge in the Mott haven section of the Bronx, otherwise known as “The Hub,” looked and felt different.<\/p>\n
Moore said the area used to be really tough.<\/p>\n
“This is a new day in the hub,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.<\/p>\n
Tisch and Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark announced a new day in the hub, with the takedown of five separate drug rings, and the indictment of 32 people in a drug market where there was absolutely no effort to conceal.<\/p>\n
“Residents, shoppers, businesses, and passersby had to endure flagrant drug dealing at all hours of the day,” Clark said.<\/p>\n
Police seized 30 pounds of fentanyl, 12 pounds of crystal meth and 1 kilo of cocaine.<\/p>\n
“The defendants and their suppliers are heard on wiretaps, speaking about their brands, who got a tick tock platter bad bunny as being too strong and causing people to fall down,” Clark said.<\/p>\n
The community and lawmakers, for the last few years, have demanded action and change.<\/p>\n
“This long-term case began in February of 2025, as a direct response to community concerns about conditions in the hub,” Tisch said. “Drugs were being sold and abused openly. Food traffic throughout the business district went down and commercial vacancy rates went up.”<\/p>\n
The NYPD believes dismantling these five criminal organizations will have a lasting effect on drug dealing and open drug use in the hub, but how long it will take to shake the stigma remains to be seen.<\/p>\n
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