'Black Rain' Drug Crew Murders Lead To Arrests After 27 Years

SOUTH OZONE PARK, NY – Investigators have charged two men with murder in a cold case in South Ozone Park, Queens, that dates back to 1992. The accused were part of the "Black Rain" drug crew, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District Court of New York which unsealed the indictment Wednesday.

Darin Hamilton and Jerome Jones were charged with two felony counts of murder while trafficking in heroin and cocaine and conspiracy to commit murder. Hamilton will be arraigned Wednesday.

Hamilton's defense attorney, Robert Soloway, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

U.S. Attorney Richard P. Donoghue also filed a request to detain Hamilton and Jones, deeming them a danger to the community and calling Hamilton a flight risk. Jones is already serving nine years in prison on ten counts of distribution of cocaine in a case brought by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.

Black Rain was a heroin and cocaine trafficking organization operating in Queens in the early 1990s. Hamilton held a leadership position within Black Rain, according to Donoghue's memo, and was convicted in 1997 for intimidating a victim or witness. Jones was previously convicted in Queens of robbery, attempted criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of narcotics.

The murders happened near the intersection of 128th Street and Rockaway Boulevard in Queens. In describing the crimes, the detention memo says Hamilton killed Anthony Lloyd on June 24, 1992, because he believed Lloyd had been stealing from the organization. In August 1992, Hamilton and Jones recruited and paid two other Black Rain members to murder Robert Arroyo, a man they believed was a police informant, the memo reads — but they mistakenly shot a different man. A month later, on Sep. 8, they fatally shot Arroyo.

"At its peak, Black Rain sold narcotics to hundreds of individuals each day, earning approximately $10,000 to $15,000," the indictment reads. "Black Rain members committed significant acts of violence, including murder, to protect its profitable operation."

The group sold heroin under the label “Black Rain,” cocaine under the label “White Lightning,” and crack cocaine under the label “Thunder,” according to Donoghue's memo.

(Lead image: Photo from Shutterstock)