Authorities have dismantled five drug trafficking organizations operating in the Hub area of the South Bronx, charging 32 people with turning the busy shopping district into what prosecutors described as an open-air drug market.<\/p>\n
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark and NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch announced the charges Monday following a yearlong investigation that resulted in the seizure of 30 pounds of fentanyl, 12 pounds of crystal methamphetamine, five firearms, a kilogram of cocaine and $100,000 in cash. Four alleged leaders face major trafficking charges that carry a potential life sentence.<\/p>\n
The four groups targeted \u2014 Ghost, Prada, TikTok, Brook and Bugatti \u2014 operated in and around the Hub, a bustling shopping and transportation district in the South Bronx where East 149th Street, Third Avenue and Melrose Avenue converge. Authorities said at least five people overdosed during the period investigators tracked the groups\u2019 activities.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese defendants allegedly operated in the Hub area, where shoppers, businesses and passersby had to endure flagrant drug dealing at all hours of the day,\u201d Clark said. \u201cThe residents should not have to live with such diminished quality of life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Investigators traced the drug trade from street-level dealers to suppliers trafficking kilos of fentanyl. Between June 9 and 12, authorities arrested and arraigned 27 defendants, while four remain at large.<\/p>\n
Three alleged major traffickers \u2014 Miguel Santiago, Milagros Jimenez and Luis Castro \u2014 were held without bail. A fourth individual, Anthony Cruz, was arrested in Florida.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor too long, drug dealers have illegally operated at the Bronx Hub, preying on the most vulnerable New Yorkers and creating a dangerous environment for the entire community,\u201d Tisch said. <\/p>\n
\u201cAfter a long-term case, NYPD investigators dismantled five drug trafficking rings responsible for supplying narcotics in the Hub, across the city and throughout four states,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Authorities executed 12 search warrants that led to nine additional arrests of people not named in the indictments. Defendants face charges including criminal sale and possession of a controlled substance and conspiracy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Authorities have dismantled five drug trafficking organizations operating in the Hub area of the South Bronx, charging 32…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":269509,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,103949,103950,103951,103952,103953,103954,103955,103956,9,24,63,103957,103958,103959,103960,103961,129,131,130,103962,103963,103964],"class_list":["post-269508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-cell-phonecb2","tag-competitorcb2","tag-consumercb2","tag-consumerismcb2","tag-cornercb2","tag-ethnic-diversitycb2","tag-latin-american-and-hispanic-ethnicitycb2","tag-melrosecb2","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-residential-neighborhoodcb2","tag-retailercb2","tag-shoppingcb2","tag-south-bronxcb2","tag-storecb2","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news","tag-the-bronxcb2","tag-trademarkcb2","tag-traditioncb2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269508\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}