Trio Sold $19K Worth Of Deadly Fentanyl: Police

Three Queens men, including a father and son, were arrested by Nassau County Police on Wednesday and charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance for allegedly selling the highly addictive, and deadly, drug fentanyl.

According to police, the department's Narcotics Vice Bureau, the Nassau County District Attorney's Office and the DEA teamed up in an investigation into six sales of fentanyl that occurred in Great Neck and were worth more than $19,000. As a result of the investigation, Hussein (Jay) Kaafarani, 50, of 9th Ave., College Point; Ali Kaafarani, 28, of 38th Ave., Woodside; and Mohamad Nehme, 33, of 42nd St., Astoria were all arrested.

The investigation led detectives to College Point Self Storage, located at 2020 129th St. in College Point, where they say they recovered 1,000 boxes of glassine envelopes that are used for packaging heroin. Each box contained 2,500 envelopes. They also recovered cash.

RELATED: The Face of Fentanyl: One Woman's Story Of Deadly Drug That's Surpassing Heroin In Long Island Deaths

Fentanyl, according to the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse, is a "powerful synthetic opioid analgesic that is similar to morphine but is 50 to 100 times more potent." Fentanyl, often used for surgery, is typically used to treat patients with severe pain or to manage pain after surgery, or to treat patients with chronic pain.

New statistics on Long Island indicate that fentanyl has taken the lead over heroin in deaths: According to a New York Times report, fentanyl took the lives of at least 220 in 2016, according to medical examiners' records.

Nehme and Ali Kaafarani are each being charged with five counts of second-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance and five counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. Ali Kaafarani is additionally being charged with fourth-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and second-degree criminal use of drug paraphernalia. Hussein Kaafarani is being charged with criminal use of drug paraphernalia. All three are scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday at First District Court in Hempstead.

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