Soccer Shop Served as Heroin Store in Newburgh

NEWBURGH, NY — A Newburgh store set up to peddle heroin has been shut down by the feds after an almost year-long investigation.

Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced Wednesday the arrest of five Newburgh men on narcotics conspiracy charges related to establishing a retail heroin-selling organization.

Victor M. Rivas, 51, Edward Cardona, 33, Julio A. Davila, 36, and Ronald L. Matias, 35, also known as Ronald Louis, were taken into custody. Victor R. Rivas, who is currently incarcerated on state charges, will be taken into federal custody to face charges.

Bharara said all five men were each charged with one count of conspiring to violate the narcotics laws of the U.S., by conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 1 kilogram and more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of heroin.

The charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison.

“As alleged, these defendants blatantly sold heroin from a storefront on a main street in Newburgh, NY,” Bharara said. “By flouting the law and selling heroin like newspapers or lottery tickets, the complaint alleges, they also helped fuel the tragic epidemic of opioid abuse that is devastating so many of our communities.”

According to the complaint:

Since January 2016, law enforcement agents have been involved in an investigation of a narcotics trafficking organization (the “Organization”) run by VICTOR M. RIVAS, with the assistance of CARDONA, DAVILA, VICTOR R. RIVAS, and MATIAS that operates in and around Newburgh, New York, and specifically at a storefront location at 427 Broadway in Newburgh that alternately operates as a soccer shop and a barbershop (the “Soccer Shop”).

During this investigation, undercover New York State Police officers (the “UCs”) and confidential sources (the “CSs”) conducted dozens of controlled buys of heroin at the Soccer Shop from several of the defendants. In aggregate, from January 2016 to November 2016, the UCs and CSs purchased approximately 515 glassine envelopes of a substance sold as, and later determined to be heroin, at the Soccer Shop. Ten glassine envelopes typically contain approximately 0.25 grams of heroin.

Law enforcement officials believe that the Organization distributed well over 1 kilogram of heroin from January 2016 through November 2016. That belief is based, in part, on: (i) the fact that, on the numerous occasions when the UCs and CSs sought to purchase heroin from the defendants, the heroin was readily available; (ii) the UCs and CSs frequently observed other customers of the Organization inside the Soccer Shop purchasing heroin; (iii) surveillance footage from a camera facing the Soccer Shop indicated that the Organization operated daily from approximately 5:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., and that a steady stream of customers tended to enter the shop while it was open and remain inside for only a few minutes each; and (iv) the observations of the UCs and CSs, as well as recorded audio and video surveillance, which indicate that the Soccer Shop is not engaged in any legitimate business as a barbershop, sports shop, or otherwise. During the course of this investigation, the only business observed to be conducted inside the Soccer Shop was the illegal sale of narcotics.

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