A major narcotics trafficking ring in the Hudson Valley and New York City was broken up with the arrests of 16 people.
Federal, state and local law enforcement executed search warrants for 22 locations and 10 vehicles in Yonkers, New Rochelle, Hopewell Junction, Newburgh and the Bronx. As a result of the search warrants, police seized seven handguns, one shotgun, one bullet proof vest, $487,000 in cash, four kilos of cocaine, 40 pounds of marijuana, three kilo presses, and several cell phones and drug paraphernalia.
Charged in Westchester County were Juan Nieto, 31, of Bronx; Jason “J-Hova” Nieto, 26, of Yonkers; Michael “EZ” Figueroa, 29, of the Bronx; and Ernest McCullough, 38, of Bronx.
Juan Nieto was charged with a felony of operating as a major drug trafficker while all four were charged with felony drug sale and conspiracy.
Previously arrested and charged in that case were Louis Crespo, 31, of Yonkers and Braulio Rosa, 33, of Easton, PA.
Eric Flores, 49, of Bronx was charged with felony criminal possession of a weapon.
During the investigation, Figueroa, Rosa, Crespo, and Raheem “Ra’ Robinson, 49, of Albany, were previously charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance after police made three separate seizures of over 500 grams of cocaine each.
On January 15, 2014, Jose Pereya was stopped at an area airport attempting to leave the country with over $36,000 in cash.
Rosa possessed over 840 grams of cocaine when stopped in March of this year in Elmsford.
