FBI, Nassau County Police Break Up Massive Heroin Drug Ring
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- The FBI and Nassau County police are making arrests in a sweeping heroin drug ring that reached from Brooklyn to Long Island's east end.
At least 20 people have been indicted in connection with an operation -- which was allegedly based out of Woodhaven, Queens -- that sources say sold and distributed a potent brand of heroin that has been linked to several overdose deaths in the region.
The sales allegedly netted nearly $3 million in nine months.
Officials arrested 18 suspects early Tuesday morning during raids at dozens of homes in Nassau and Suffolk Counties.
1010 WINS' Mona Rivera reports
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The suspects are accused of flooding Long Island with 20 kilograms of heroin in just the past nine months.
EXTRAS: Read The Indictment | Map Of Alleged Distribution Locations And Stash Houses
Those indicted in the case include Roland Stern, a retired Suffolk County Marine Bureau Police Officer, and his daughter Corey Stern; Tina and Matthew Catrini, a married couple from Farmingville and a college student from Jericho, officials said.
Authorities say Roland Stern made 300 of the deals.
WCBS 880's Irene Cornell On The Story
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U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch said Dana Sollecito allegedly sold heroin from the parking lot of her family's Massapequa restaurant.
Lynch said the alleged heroin trafficking organization sprawled from "the Dominican Republic to the United States, from Brooklyn to Queens, from Rockville Centre to Farmingville, and to points in between."
Officials said the alleged ring leader, 26-year-old Jose Perez, worked out of a distribution facility located in Brooklyn but also sold drugs directly to buyers.
The suspects range in age from 21 to 68, officials said.
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