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Contraband and $100,000 in cash recovered from a Bronx apartment where heroin was “cut” and prepared for distribution to the local major drug dealers in central Westchester. Indivual glassene packets of Heroin were sold for $10 each. alleged distributors and sellers, charged below sold as many 25 customers the $10 bags a day., the District Attorney said.
WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE. MAY 5, 2017:
The Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino,Jr. in a news conference this morning at the Richard Daronco Courthouse in White Plains announced 18 persons were arraigned on Felony Complaints, after having been arrested in connection with street level heroin sales in the Town of Greenburgh and White Plains.
Westchester District Attorney, Anthony A. Scarpino, Jr. (left) announcing the arrests this morning at the Daronco Courthouse.
The District Attorney said, “The defendants arrested included long-time drug dealers with lengthy felony records. This coordinated, multi-agency effort targeted the right people to take off our streets. I want to thank the White Plains, Greenburgh, Yonkers and Port Chester Police Departments, the Westchester County Department of Public Safety and the F.B.I. Safe Street Task Force for the unstinting efforts to make these neighborhoods safter. I also want to thank our Narcotics Bureau and Investigations Division who made these cases and coordinated the take down of these dealers.”
The investigation began at the beginning of 2016 and accelerated at the start of this year.
These were “major drug dealers” the D.A. said. Many of the defendants were selling heroin to “upwards of 25 customers, some of whom purchased heroin on a daily basis.
Large Packets of heroin found at 1208 Clay in The Bronx where heroin was allegedly prepared for sale to the Central Westchester Market.
Grinders used for preparing and blending heroin found in the Bronx apartment
Two loaded handguns, 2.5 kilos of heroin with a street value of $1.5 Million and over $100,000 cash were seized in the apartment of Luis Castro, of 1208 Clay in The Bronx.
Sales of the drugs to heroin users were made at various locations on the street in White Plains, at 159 South Lexington Avenue, and in the White Plains Public Library, the District Attorney said.
District Attorney Scarpino said that the war on drugs continues and that today’s arrests were the winning of just one battle. He said the key to defeating drugs is to “reduce demand,” by helping to “wean” the persons afflicted by this “disease.”
He praised the White Plains Police Department for their policy of not charging heroin users who sought help which he said was a way to helping them gain treatment for their addiction.
CLEAR is a program begun in April by the White Plains Department of Public Safety committed to functioning as a gateway for individuals who have made the decision to obtain help in the form of detox and rehabilitation as appropriate.
The White Plains Police Department will facilitate the assessment and placement process utilizing SOBA College Recovery 24 hour hotline and placement staff.
The White Plains Police will allow a person with a drug problem to relinquish your personal use drug contraband with amnesty of arrest. Contact the White Plains Police department, 422-6111 and ask about the CLEAR progam.
The persons arrested and arraigned in the last day were supplied their drugs from the Bronx, where a major heroin “cutting facility” was located and drugs seized, 1208 Clay Avenue in The Bronx.
The persons arrested from White Plains were
Willie James Edwards 51, of 159 South Lexington Avenue
Otto Armstrong, Sr.,60 of 85 South Road
The defendants Edwards and Armstrong were alleged to be the two major suppliers to dealers in the Greenburgh and White Plains area
The following White Plains residents were also arrested:
Byron Gaynor,51, of 24 Kensico Avenue
George Jamison,48 of 110 Park Avenue
Leon Richardson, 63 of 33 Fisher Avenue
Daryl Kyle, 64 of 1 Oak Street
Clifton Monk, 55 of 24 Kensico Avenue
Bernard Pease, 59 of 129 Kensico Avenue
Also arrested were
Alonzo Thompson, 55, 186 Grace Church, Port Chester, NY
Francis Brooks, 58 of 78 Evarts Avenue, Elmsford, NY
Dwane Stennett, 57 of 12 Cottage Gardens, Yonkers, NY
The District Attorney reported charges against the above named defendants include
Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, Class “B” Felonie
Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, class “B” Felonies
Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, class “E” Felonies.