Cops Arrest 64 In New Rochelle Drug Sweep
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Dozens of alleged heroin dealers were arrested in the wee hours of the morning Wednesday in New Rochelle.
With the help of the FBI and DEA, police began to round up the 64 alleged low-level dealers at 4 a.m., WCBS 880's Sean Adams reported.
Last week, cops in White Plains arrested 38 suspects in the same "Operation Street Sweeper II."
"There's different players here -- some loosely knit gangs, some individual sellers and just opportunists," New Rochelle Police Commissioner Patrick Carroll said.
Undercover cops infiltrated the underbelly of New Rochelle's West End. Over a span of seven months, they made street buys of heroin and built cases, authorities said.
"We don't think they have a common source," Carroll said. "We're still working on tracking the source. Our feeling is a lot of them get their narcotics from the Bronx."
One of the raids took place at a home for the elderly and disabled, where three people were arrested, CBS2's Lou Young reported.
"(Who would buy heroin here?) Man, you'd be surprised. (Really?) Yeah!," said one resident.
One of those busted is a former grocery store owner who lives at the end of a cul de sac. Others are West End apartment dwellers -- the youngest is 22 and the oldest is 67 years old, Young reported.
But few in the area were surprised.
"I've heard rumors. (Heroin?) Heroin seems to be making a comeback," said one resident.
"The purpose of an operation like this is to make the community safe, free from violence, because with narcotics comes gun violence and assaults and stuff like that," the commissioner said.
The investigation is ongoing.
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