Yonkers Man Arrested In Connection With String Of Overdoses: Feds

YONKERS, NY — Federal prosecutors say a Yonkers man is one of two defendants charged in connection with a string of fentanyl-related overdoses.

Jose Luis Tejada Aybar and Allen Alexis Abisada Guzman are charged with operating a narcotics delivery service responsible for three overdose deaths, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced on Thursday. The pair are accused of operating a narcotics delivery service known as the “Cab Louie Delivery Service” in the New York City area, including parts of Westchester.

“As alleged, the defendants operated an on-demand delivery service for the distribution of highly addictive and dangerous drugs,"said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss. "The cocaine distributed by the defendants’ service was laced with the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl, and as alleged, caused the deaths of three victims. Thanks to the tireless efforts of law enforcement, the defendants’ delivery service is no longer in business.”

Aybar and Guzman were charged in criminal complaints unsealed today in Manhattan federal court with narcotics conspiracy resulting in the deaths of Marsha Clarke of the Bronx and Martin Banks and Edward Lynch of Yonkers. Aybar was arrested Thursday morning and will appear in a Manhattan courtroom. Guzman was also arrested Thursday, but will appear in Miami federal court.

“Every overdose in New York City is traced back to its source by the NYPD and its enforcement partners, to prevent the senseless kinds of deaths the victims in this case suffered," NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said. "I commend our investigators and the prosecutors in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District in New York for tirelessly fighting this scourge with every tool at our disposal.”

Aybar saved on his phone a news article reporting the overdose deaths of Banks and Lynch. However, he continued to operate the Cab Louie Delivery Service, prosecutors said. From Oct. 2019 to Feb. 2020, the two defendants, operating through the Cab Louie Delivery Service, repeatedly sold cocaine to an NYPD undercover officer, according to court filings.

"Today’s arrests illuminate the dangers associated with fentanyl-tainted street drugs," DEA Special Agent in Charge Ray Donovan said. "Tejada’s alleged drug delivery service put lethal doses of drugs into three New Yorkers' hands, causing their overdose. Too many lives have been lost to fentanyl-related overdoses."

Aybar and Guzman are each charged with narcotics conspiracy resulting in death, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison.