Round-The-Clock Drug Market Busted On Washington Heights Street

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — A 24-hour drug market that traded narcotics from a Washington Heights street has been busted.

The investigation into the "highly organized" street-level drug organization started at West Kingsbridge Road and Jerome Avenue in The Bronx, but its focus quickly shifted to the operation's "main location": a block at Audubon Avenue between West 173rd and West 174th streets.

As the investigation carried on, dozens of community members complained to the NYPD's 33rd Precinct about the "open and notorious drug activity that took place in their neighborhood 24 hours per day."

Members of the organization would go on to sell drugs to undercover NYPD officers 24 times, investigators said.

Yashua Torres, more commonly known as Jiggy, was arrested Wednesday morning alongside Yasmin Beltran at 600 West 176th Street, according to investigators. Within his apartment, police recovered a kilogram-sized package of suspected narcotics, $115,000 in cash, hundreds of pills, and multiple pounds of marijuana, according to the Office of Special Narcotics.

Additionally, cocaine, heroin, pills, and thousands of dollars in cash were also recovered Wednesday morning from an apartment at 171 Audubon Avenue, where a different member of the organization was arrested, said the Office of Special Narcotics.

NYPD laboratory analysis found that the heroin sold to undercover officers was mixed with fentanyl — a combination that can quickly become deadly.

Investigators also said members of the organization sold crack cocaine and methamphetamine.

Torres, the alleged ringleader of the group, oversaw several workers and assigned them different roles and shifts to cover the morning, afternoon, and night, according to investigators.

The group would coordinate by phone, handheld two-way radio, and even used cryptic language to disguise their activity from the police, said the Office of Special Narcotics.

The six people arrested in connection to the street-level drug organization were announced Wednesday by Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan and New York City Police Commissioner Dermott Shea.

This is a developing story, please check back in for updates.