NYC-Linked Busts Seize 120 Pounds Of Fentanyl, Heroin, Cocaine

NEW YORK CITY — A New York City-linked drug ring funneled vast amounts of fentanyl, heroin and cocaine from overseas and into the northeast until a long-term wiretap probe put an end to it, authorities said.

Three New York City men face major drug trafficking charges in indictments announced Thursday by the city's special narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan.

They, along with seven other suspects, were the focus of a months-long investigation that seized 120 pounds of fentanyl, heroin and cocaine in New York City, Philadelphia and Lima, Peru, authorities said.

“When pandemic border closings temporarily interrupted the flow of narcotics into the United States, these individuals are charged with scheming to smuggle lethal narcotics into New York and distribute them throughout the Northeast at inflated prices,” Brennan said in a statement. “The scale of the narcotics smuggling operation upended by this investigation was staggering, as it attempted to take advantage of vulnerable communities and law enforcement facing unprecedented challenges."

The investigation began in January 2020 with wiretaps that quickly revealed several suspects, including Jose Aquino Suarez, 52, Erick Abreu-Flores, 41, and Ramon Antonio Bardera, 65, who are all from the Bronx, authorities said.

Authorities with the New York Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Strike Force followed the wiretap trail to more suspects, according to a release.

They also uncovered an international connection — Bardera was heard on the phone talking about receiving a drug shipment from Peru, authorities said.

"In August of 2020, DEA special agents in the capital city of Lima intercepted a package that BARDERA expected to receive in New York, and the agents recovered a kilogram of cocaine from hollowed-out wooden footstools," a release states.

A spate of busts in the Bronx between November and May of this year netted about 120 pounds of drugs, more than $335,000 in cash and two guns, authorities said.

Most suspects were arrested May 13. Nine were scheduled to be arraigned on drug charges on Thursday.