3 Lower East Side Drug Traffickers, Including Kingpin, Indicted Thursday

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — Three drug traffickers based in the Lower East Side were indicted Thursday for selling more than $75,000 worth of cocaine.

The Manhattan District Attorney's office charged Kenny Hernandez, 35, Felix Nunez, 27 and Oscar Almonte, 29, in a 119-count indictment, according to a press release. Hernandez was charged with Operating as a Major Trafficker, a class A felony also known as the "drug kingpin" statute. He also faces conspiracy charges, a second-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance charge and 114 third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance charges, officials said.

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Co-conspirators Nunez and Almonte will also face conspiracy and criminal sale of a controlled substance charges, officials said.

“This narcotics operation was organized and discreet, but it could not withstand the precision of this long-term investigation,” said Police Commissioner William J. Bratton in the press release. “Selling cocaine in a variety of bars and clubs throughout Manhattan, the ringleader also allegedly sold to NYPD undercovers on more than a dozen instances. I commend the brave work of all the investigators who built this case, along with the Violent Criminal Enterprises Unit at District Attorney Vance’s Office.”

Hernandez was the leader of the drug ring and conducted most of the sales himself, officials said. Sales were made in various locations across Manhattan including the Lower East Side, the Upper East Side, Chelsea, the Financial District and parts of Midtown. The drug ring also conducted some business in Brooklyn and Queens, officials said. Customers generally bought between $200 and $300 worth of product per sale, according to the press release.

In addition to the three traffickers, the District Attorney's Office also indicted 18 of the drug ring's repeat buyers on possession charges.

Among those indicted were Austin Dodson, Christopher Dodson, Kyle Holmes, Christian Jewett, Alexander Mallory, Katherine Welnhofer and Roman Yoffe, according to the indictment. The rest of the names have been redacted.