40 Charged In Massive Nassau County Drug Ring: Prosecutors

HEMPSTEAD, NY — More than 30 people were arrested and charged in connection with a massive drug trafficking ring based in Hempstead, officials announced Monday.

Authorities said they seized nearly $3 million worth of cocaine, heroin, fentanyl and morphine. Forty people were indicted and 33 of them were arrested following an 18-month investigation.

“This massive multi-agency takedown strikes a heavy blow to the narcotics trafficking infrastructure in our region," Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas said in a statement. "We recovered huge quantities of drugs, stockpiles of weapons and 40 drug traffickers and dealers have been indicted for their alleged roles in this dangerous network. I’m grateful to our partners for their work and incredible perseverance to protect our communities.”

According to Singas, the DA's office and the ATF began investigating violence and drug trafficking in the Hempstead area in October 2019. After undercover officers made several drug and gun purchases, the DA applied for a warrant for electronic eavesdropping in February 2020 to identify the suppliers.

As the coronavirus pandemic hit in March 2020, Singas said the price of drugs began to skyrocket. Cocaine, which was the main drug the ring was peddling, increased from about $32,000 per kilogram to as high as $55,000 per kilogram in August.

Through September 2020, there was a 30 percent increase in fatal overdoses, according to data from the Medical Examiner's office. Opioids were detected in 83 percent of fatal overdoses involving cocaine.

According to Singas, five of those arrested sold a cocktail of heroin, fentanyl and cocaine. One person sold heroin cut with fentanyl and morphine, Singas said.

Nine people were charged with acting as major drug traffickers: Able McTootle, Eric Butler, Willy Matias, Allen Evans, Eric Poston, Matthew Williams (also known as Vernon Howard), Orlando Ramsay, Rodney Highsmith and one more person who has yet to be arrested. A has to possess or sell drugs worth more than $75,000 during a six-month period to be charged as a major drug trafficker. The charge carries a potential sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

“The scourge of illegal narcotics trafficking, and the violence associated with it, has plagued our communities for far too long," said William F. Sweeney, assistant director-in-charge of the FBI New York. "This investigation focused on the worst criminals in some of the most dangerous areas on Long Island, and the collective effort of all the law enforcement entities involved is commendable. The enforcement actions announced here today should give members of the community some comfort in knowing these violent offenders won’t be putting their lives in danger any longer.

Officials say that the people charged as major traffickers would act as suppliers to smaller drug dealers around Nassau County, and that they worked together to get and distribute drugs. The drugs they sold were imported from as far away as Puerto Rico, and also came from California, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Two of those arrested — Lex Lloyd and another unidentified person — sold drugs from day cares located in Hempstead and Rosedale, officials said. Approximately 520 grams of cocaine, 50 oxycodone pills, two narcotics presses and bullets were found in Lloyd’s home on Pierson Avenue in Hempstead, officials said. And about 100 grams of cocaine and 100 grams of crack cocaine were found in the other person's home in Rosedale.

The street value of all the drugs seized is estimated to be $2,772,000.

As a result of the investigation, officials say they recovered:

• 38 firearms, including assault weapons and ammunition
• 9.5 kilograms of nearly pure cocaine — approximately 31,000 doses
• Approximately 1.5 kilograms of crack cocaine — approximately 5,000 doses
• More than one kilogram of heroin — 36,000 individual doses
• 250 grams of fentanyl — enough to provide 36,000 fatal doses
• 210 grams of morphine — approximately 42,000 individual doses
• More than $380,000 in cash

“For years, Long Island’s worst of the worst have terrorized our communities with acts of violence and the trafficking of firearms — both in furtherance of operating a narcotics enterprise on our streets regardless of the lives negatively impacted," said John B. DeVito, special agent in charge of the ATF New York Field Division. "But today, thanks to the efforts of the ATF New York Field Division Long Island Field Office, working with our partners from the Hempstead Police Department, the Nassau County Police Department and the FBI Long Island Gang Task Force, this criminal organization has been silenced once and for all.”

Agencies involved in the investigation included the Nassau County District Attorney's Office; the FBI Long Island Gang Task Force; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Long Island Field Division; the Nassau County Police Department; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; the New York State Police; the Hempstead Police Department; and the Drug Enforcement Administration.