Residence Used to Manufacture and Store Illegal Pills Containing Potentially Lethal Drugs Across from Public School
Three men were charged with participating in a narcotics trafficking operation following an investigation that ran for several months and resulted in the seizure of three illegal pill pressing machines and over four kilograms (10 pounds) of fentanyl in powder and pill form from a residence in Ozone Park, Queens. Also recovered were more than two kilograms (over six pounds) of methamphetamine, cocaine, and oxycodone pills. The drug network allegedly used a residence located across the street from PS 377Q, S.T.A.R. Leadership Academy, as an illicit pill manufacturing and drug stash location.
Bridget G. Brennan, New York City’s Special Narcotics Prosecutor, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, Christopher Roberts, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) New York Task Force Division, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch, and New York State Police Superintendent Steven G. James announced the arrests of Isaiah CRUZ, Brendan LAO, and Adam EHRLICH following arraignments in Manhattan Criminal Court.
Late yesterday afternoon, CRUZ was arraigned and bail was set at $100,000 cash/$100,000 bond. LAO and EHRLICH were arraigned Tuesday night, with bail set at $100,000 cash/$300,000 bond for each. All three defendants are charged with Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the First and Second Degrees. EHRLICH faces an additional charge of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Fifth Degree.
The investigation was conducted by the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force (NYDETF) Group T54 and the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor’s (SNP) Investigators Unit. NYDETF Group T-54 is comprised of agents and investigators with DEA New York Division, the New York City Police Department (NYPD), and the New York State Police.
Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan said, “This expansive poison pill production operation displayed boldness and callous disregard for life. Located directly across the street from a public school, it had potential to produce hundreds of thousands of potentially lethal pills which looked like legitimate pharmaceuticals with industrial capacity pill presses. I thank the investigators and agents who diligently tracked it down before any lives were lost.”
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said, “Illegal drugs and unregulated narcotics wreak havoc on our communities, destroying lives and shattering families. The allegations in this case are particularly egregious as three individuals are accused of operating a pill mill with fentanyl, cocaine and other dangerous substances recovered right across the street from a school. This kind of reckless, criminal activity places our children and entire neighborhoods at risk. I thank Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan, the DEA, State Police, and the NYPD for their work on this case.”
“This past Monday, the DEA New York Task Force Division along with our law enforcement partners conducted another successful operation resulting in three arrests and shutting down another illegal pill mill operating near a school in Queens” stated DEA New York Task Force Division Special Agent in Charge Christopher Roberts. “The seizure of three pill press machines and over 10 pounds of fentanyl powder and pills, reaffirms DEA’s unwavering commitment to targeting those who manufacture and distribute these deadly drugs. Through DEA’s Fentanyl Free America campaign and our ongoing enforcement initiatives, we will continue to hold those responsible accountable and bring them to justice. This is about saving lives.”
“This operation allegedly used industrial-grade pill presses to manufacture and distribute lethal narcotics from a residence directly across the street from a public school – a reckless and dangerous enterprise that put lives at risk,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch. “The seizure of fentanyl and other deadly drugs, along with large-scale pill-manufacturing equipment, underscores the sophistication of this network and the urgency of taking it down. I thank our investigators in the NYPD, and our partners at the DEA, the New York State Police, the Special Narcotics Prosecutor’s Office, and the Queens District Attorney’s Office for their work to keep these poisons off our streets and out of our communities.”
New York State Police Superintendent Steven G. James said, “I commend the vital collaborative work of our members and law enforcement partners in the relentless effort to keep illegal drugs off our streets. These arrests reinforce that we will continue to be vigilant in stopping the flow of these dangerous drugs into our neighborhoods. Each arrest, each seizure is saving lives and decreases the additional crime that surrounds these illegal and dangerous operations.”
During the investigation, agents and investigators developed information that CRUZ, LAO and EHRLICH were engaged in narcotics trafficking and observed all three men repeatedly entering and exiting 150-28 Raleigh Street, Apartment 2, an Ozone Park residence which they allegedly shared.
As detailed in a criminal complaint filed in Manhattan Criminal Court, on Monday evening agents and officers conducted court authorized searches of the Raleigh Street residence and a second location in Ozone Park, a self-storage unit located at 103-39 98th Street.
CRUZ was arrested on Monday afternoon at approximately 3:15 p.m. a few blocks from 150-28 Raleigh Street, inside a vehicle on Centreville Street. LAO was taken into custody in front of 150-28 Raleigh Street that evening at approximately 8 p.m. as agents and officers prepared to conduct the court authorized search of Apartment 2.
Inside the Raleigh Street residence, agents and officers recovered two pill presses, including a manual pill press and a large automatic/mechanical pill press, from the living room. A third pill press of the automatic type was found inside a bedroom. Automatic pill presses can produce thousands of pills in a short amount of time, while manual pill presses create individual pills. Agents and officers seized a variety of molds used to press different shaped pills, including those used to manufacture counterfeit oxycodone pills.
The kitchen and the living room areas contained a variety of pills in different shapes and colors, including those resembling oxycodone. The kitchen also allegedly contained large quantities of powdered narcotics believed to be fentanyl and cocaine, and a large amount of crystal methamphetamine, according to field tests performed on the substances at the location. Pill presses 3 and narcotics were found in plain view in the apartment’s common areas, and various forms of official identification were recovered from the residence.
EHRLICH was arrested at approximately 5 p.m. on Monday in the vicinity of a self-storage unit at 103- 39 98th Street, Unit 3177. At approximately 7:52 p.m., a search of the storage unit resulted in the seizure of a large amount of marijuana and approximately four kilograms (over eight pounds) of psilocybin mushrooms. ERLICH is charged in connection with the seized psilocybin mushrooms in addition to the drugs found in the Raleigh Street residence.
DEA laboratory analysis on the substances recovered during both court authorized searches are pending.
Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan thanked Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, and commended SNP’s Special Investigations Bureau and Investigators Unit, the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force, DEA New York Division, the New York City Police Department, and the New York State Police for their work on the investigation.
The charges and allegations are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Defendants Charges Isaiah Cruz Queens, NY Age: 26 CPCS 1st – 1 ct CPCS 2nd – 1 ct Brendan Lao Queens, NY Age: 26 CPCS 1st – 1 ct CPCS 2nd – 1 ct Adam Ehrlich Queens, NY Age: 24 CPCS 1st – 1 ct CPCS 2nd – 1 ct
No comments:
Post a Comment