DA: Major Suffolk County Heroin Ring Busted

Photo (courtesy of the Suffolk DA’s Office): A drug workstation found in a Brentwood home.

A heroin distribution network responsible for the sale of five kilograms of heroin and two kilograms of cocaine in Suffolk County every two weeks has been been busted by authorities, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said Monday.

The District Attorney’s Heroin Task Force has made 21 arrests thus far.

“Using every investigative tool including undercover buys, electronic surveillance and wiretaps, our investigation revealed two primary suppliers, Juan Smith, 25, of Valley Stream and Elvis Castro, 28, of Amityville,” DA Thomas Spota said in a statement.

Smith and Castro are charged with conspiracy to distribute heroin and cocaine and both men are being held in jail in lieu of $5 million bail.

During an investigation, the men sold heroin and cocaine to as many as 20 drug buyers per day in Setauket, Stony Brook, Nesconset, Miller Place, Hauppauge, Smithtown, St. James, Lindenhurst, Amityville, Copiague, West Islip, Islip, Bay Shore, Holbrook and Ronkonkoma, the DA said.

“Buyers met with sellers on side streets near Sunrise Highway or the LIE, and some steady purchasers merited door-to-door delivery of heroin,” Spota said.

Most buyers purchased bundles of heroin (10 bags to a bundle) and the ring’s customers were as young as 22 and as old as 65, the DA said.

In addition to kilos of heroin and cocaine, more than $200,000 in cash was seized, along with a dozen firearms, including an AK-47 assault rifle, during the execution of search warrants, officials said.

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