21 Arrests Today due to Year-Long Narcotics Investigation in Northern Westchester

A secret initiative to combat the distribution and sale of heroin in northern Westchester went public today announcing that 21 people were arrested today on charges of selling narcotics in the north county area.

Officials of the county’s Department of Public Safety said a multi-agency task force of officers had been formed in early 2014 by the department, seven northern Westchester police departments and the FBI, in response to a surge in heroin use and related overdose deaths in 2013.

The task force, known as the Westchester County Northern Narcotics Initiative, targeted street-level dealers and their suppliers.

Since its formation a year ago, police said the task force has made more than 125 arrests across northern Westchester of persons who were selling heroin on the street or from their homes. Most were charged with felony counts of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance 3rd Degree (Intent to Sell) and Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 3rd Degree.

Westchester county officials said that in this morning’s operation, county, local and federal officers took an additional 21 suspects into custody who will face drug-dealing charges in either state or federal courts. The suspects facing federal charges are accused of being suppliers of larger quantities of heroin and face up to life in prison if convicted.

Related: 6 Peekskill Residents Face State Charges in Today’s Massive Drug Bust

“The deaths of young adults in northern Westchester from heroin overdoses in the last year or so were a tremendous tragedy for their families and their communities,” County Executive Robert P. Astorino said in a press release. “These deaths were a stark reminder that the fight against the distribution and sale of heroin is literally a fight for the lives of our children.”

In the press release, Astorino and Commissioner George N. Longworth thanked the federal and local agencies for committing manpower and resources to the initiative. They also expressed gratitude for the prosecutorial support of the Westchester District Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“The law enforcement community resolved to increase the already substantial resources that were being expended to combat the heroin trade,” Longworth said. “This multi-agency task force has quietly taken scores of drug dealers off our streets along with some of those who supply them.”

Longworth said that the task force comprised officers from the Bedford, Buchanan, Croton-on-Hudson, Peekskill, Yorktown, Mount Kisco and Ossining Police Departments as well as members of the Westchester County FBI Violent Crimes Task Force. The 125 arrests were the results of thousands of hours of investigation, including intelligence gathering, surveillance, undercover buys and wiretaps.

Longworth said that heroin was being sold all across northern Westchester.

“Some people may think that heroin is only an inner-city problem, but is not. Heroin is being sold on tree-lined streets. It is being used by – and sold by -- young people who live in comfortable homes and circumstances. This is everybody’s problem and all of us are working together to solve it. Our work does not end today.”

As part of the initiative’s work, a federal Indictment charging 15 of today’s arrestees with conspiring to distribute heroin, crack cocaine, and powder cocaine in and around Westchester County from at least in or about January 2014 up to and including in or about January 2015 was unsealed today.

“Illegal, damaging drugs such as heroin, crack and cocaine continue to be scourges of many communities north of New York City,” Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said announcing the indictment. “We and our federal and local law enforcement partners are determined to prevent drug organizations from taking root in our communities, as evidenced by today’s charges and arrests.”

Bharara also praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI, the Westchester County Northern Narcotics Initiative and the FBI Violent Crimes Task Force. He thanked the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office for its participation.

According to allegations in the Indictment unsealed today in White Plains federal court:

The Indictment charges 15 defendants and contains three counts.

• Count One charges Lakuan Rhyne, aka “Rico,” 22, Jesse Dabbs, 24, Daivon Pryor, 19, Jonathan Thornton, aka Staxx, 29, Johnson Vaniyapurakal, 26, and Allen Wright, 24, with conspiring to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute, one kilogram or more of heroin in and around Westchester County, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 846, 841(a)(1), and 841(b)(1)(A).
• Count Two charges Rhyne, Dabbs, Thornton, plus Michael Douse, 38, Michael Gray, 48, Angelo Harris, 34, Kevin Herbin, 23, Kevin Mallory, 43, Robert Miller, 35, and Dwayne Mountain, 27, with conspiring to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute, 280 grams or more of crack cocaine in and around Westchester County, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 846, 841(a)(1), and 841(b)(1)(A).
• Count Three charges Rhyne, Dabbs, Douse, Gray, Mallory, Miller, Thornton, Vaniyapurakal plus Curtis Dimmie, 47, and Michael Harrington, 34, with conspiring to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute, 500 grams or more of cocaine in and around Westchester County, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 846, 841(a)(1), and 841(b)(1)(B).

Twelve of the 15 defendants were arrested today or had previously been taken into custody. They were presented in White Plains federal court this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith C. McCarthy. Rhyne was previously taken into custody by Arkansas state authorities, and will be presented in White Plains federal court on a future date.

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