Washington Heights Drug Bust: 14 Indicted For Sales That Led To Fatal Overdose, Prosecutors Say

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — Fourteen members of a drug trafficking ring that distributed large quantities of drugs such as cocaine, heroin and marijuana in Washington Heights, causing at least one fatal overdose, were indicted Friday, the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor For the City of New York announced.

The accused drug dealers were taken down after a long-term police investigation dubbed "Operation Scorpion Sting" that was launched after a 35-year-old woman was found dead last year in an apartment building on West 191st Street in Washington Heights, prosecutors said. Drugs stamped with the brand name "Scorpion" were found on the woman's dead body, prosecutors said in a press release.

Between July 2016 and May 2017 undercover officers purchased drugs from two "loosely-connected" gangs that operated in the vicinity of West 190th and 191st streets in Washington Heights, prosecutors said. The investigation also resulted in the takedown of three drug suppliers from the Bronx.

"The prosecutions announced today reflect our commitment to vigorously prosecute those who sell drugs that destroy lives, and to prevent the spread of addiction by taking lethal drugs off our streets," Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan said in a statement. (Keep up to date with news from you neighborhood with Patch's free daily newsletters.)

Twelve of the 14 people indicted Friday were arrested Wednesday morning by members of NYPD’s Narcotics Borough Manhattan North and two were already in custody, prosecutors said. During court-ordered searches police recovered five firearms and large quantities of cocaine, heroin and marijuana during the arrests.

Three kilograms of cocaine (about seven pounds), more than 7,000 glassines of heroin and more than $340,000 in cash was recovered from defendants' homes. An additional 60 pounds of marijuana was seized from a storage unit in the Bronx, prosecutors announced.

Laboratory tests on the recovered drugs revealed that some of the "Scorpion"-branded heroin actually contained fentanyl — an opioid about 50 times stronger than heroin that has accounted for a massive surge in drug overdose deaths nationwide — prosecutors said.

Here's a list of the accused drug dealers indicted Friday:

• Elcires "Paul," "Dice" Cruz, 30, of the Bronx
• Erick "D-Bo" Cruz, 44, of the Bronx
• Denny Guerrero, 47 of the Bronx
• Jean "Mean Jean" Rodriguez, 26, of New York
• Frankie Santana, 31, of New York
• Adrian "Chino" Cruz, 21, of New York
• Christian "Flow" Rodriguez, 22, of New York
• Dewall "Young Blood" Castillo, 19, of New York
• Dennis Bueno, 32, of New York
• Genaro Liriano, 44, of New York
• Oscatele "Telly" Yeje, 26, of New York
• Clara "Kiki" Prado, 38, of New York
• Emmanuel "Kako" Puello, 22, of New York
• Sergio Ceballos, 26, of New York

Photo courtesy Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor For the City of New York