Federal authorities rounded up 17 alleged drug dealers in trafficking busts on Staten Island and in the Bronx Wednesday.
Brothers Joseph and Michael Calabria, 52 and 49, ran a nine-person conspiracy that dealt heroin and the painkiller oxycodone across Staten Island, authorities said.
βThese defendants allegedly pushed heroin and oxycodone for months, contributing to the opioid plague that has caused great suffering on Staten Island,β said U.S. Attorney Robert Capers.
The DEAβs multi-agency New York Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Strike Force built the case against the suspects.
Joseph Calabria was caught on wiretaps arranging pill transactions for thousands at a clip with several of his co-conspirators, prosecutors allege.
Michael Calabria, a lifetime parolee after a 1990 drug dealing conviction, was caught arguing about money and talking heroin with another member of the conspiracy, Ugo Gallo, 46, according to court filings.
βMike, I gave you $78,000 in four months,β Gallo, also an ex-con, said, according to an indictment. βYou switched a bundle a day to three sleeves. I was buying three sleeves a f—ing day. Iβve given you over $100,000 since I came home from jail.β
In Bronx, DEA agents and NYPD officers arrested eight people accused of selling crack and marijuana by the Soundview Houses.
The suspects, whose ages ranged between 19 and 27, sold drugs since 2014, and were caught making deals to undercover officers, police said.
One of the eight, Elliot (L Boogie) James, 27, also faces federal gun charges.
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