9 Accused in Rockland Drug Bust: Doing The 'Fentanyl Dance'

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — Nine people are accused of running a local drug ring for five years that specialized in heroin laced with fentanyl. Five of them acted as suppliers, buying drugs in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens for resale in Rockland. Four were the distributors.

The announcement was made by Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Thomas Zugibe, the Rockland County District Attorney, and James J. Hunt, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The indictment also alleges that the use of heroin distributed by Robert Diaz, also known as "Facey" or "Face", resulted in serious bodily injury to a particular victim on or about Dec. 15, 2016, in Queens.

All but one of the defendants were arrested Wednesday and Thursday. Diaz, Rene Sanchez, Pablo Perez, Christian Cardenas, David Almonte, Ronald Bolanos, Theresa Keefe and Nicole Munderville were presented in federal court in Manhattan before U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein. Rolando Paulino remained at large.

“Sadly, we're seeing high numbers of fentanyl and heroin related overdoses in Rockland County," Rockland County District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said in the announcement. "Dealers selling heroin-laced fentanyl or replacing the heroin entirely with fentanyl are a major threat to our community. Often times, users never know that the substance they purchased has been cut with this opioid, which is 50 times more powerful than regular heroin. Today’s arrests help to stem the flow of heroin and fentanyl into our neighborhoods. Along with our law enforcement partners, the Rockland County District Attorney's Office is committed to holding dealers accountable with the full force of the law.”

The drug ring operated from 2012 to May 2017, prosecutors alleged.

Here's how prosecutors say it worked: Cardenas, Almonte, Perez, Paulino and Bolanos acted as suppliers for the Rockland drug ring, while Diaz, Sanchez, Keefe and Munderville distributed and assisted in distributing the narcotics to customers in and around Rockland. They distributed narcotics including heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, and crack cocaine.

Some members of the drug ring were aware of the potency and danger of the narcotics they were distributing, prosecutors allege. For example, from December 2016 to May 2017, Diaz indicated to certain other members of the group that the narcotics he, Keefe, and Munderville were selling, and that CARDENAS was supplying, contained fentanyl, were particularly dangerous, and had caused adverse reactions in multiple customers, including at least one overdose that had required the administration of naloxone to the Queens victim on or about Dec. 15, 2016.

Also, according to the indictment, on Jan. 5, 2017, Diaz told Cardenas that “three people fell out” from the drugs Diaz had provided. Diaz subsequently informed Keefe and Munderville that the drugs they were selling, thought by customers to be heroin, actually contained fentanyl. In addition, on March 20, 2017, Diaz, in an alleged conversation with Perez, laughed as he discussed doing the “fentanyl dance,” telling Perez that he had a “new connect” for “straight up fentanyl” and that customers “love it.”

Each defendant is charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute narcotics, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison. Diaz also faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison for having distributed heroin resulting in serious bodily injury to a victim.

Kim thanked the DEA’s Westchester Tactical Diversion Squad, the Rockland County Drug Task Force, the Rockland County REACT Team, and the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office for their work on the investigation. The DEA’s Westchester TDS comprises agents and officers of the DEA, Westchester County Police Department, Town of Orangetown Police Department, Rockland County Sheriff’s Office, Rockland County District Attorney’s Office, Yonkers Police Department, New Windsor Police Department, Putnam County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Health and Human Services.

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