Suffolk DA: 13 People Arraigned On Charges Of Running Major Marijuana, Ketamine Ring
HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) - A former NYPD officer was one of 13 people indicted in Suffolk County on charges of running a major drug operation.
Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said the defendants used cross-country drivers to bring marijuana into the county from California.
WCBS 880's Sophia Hall reports
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The defendants are also accused of selling the drug Ketamine, known by the street name special K, brought into the U.S. from China.
According to the DA's office, the drug ring made monthly purchases of approximately two kilos of Ketamine, an animal tranquilizer, from a website based in China.
Officials said the Ketamine was sold to people at nightclubs on Long Island and Manhattan.
The arraignments came following a ten-month investigation into the drug ring, the DA's office said.
"This was a joint Suffolk police narcotics squad and district attorney's narcotics bureau operation utilizing electronic surveillance, including wiretaps," Spota said in a news release.
The DA's office recovered 200 pounds of marijuana, tens of thousands of dollars in cash and plastic bags filled with powdered special K.
Among the defendants arrested in the drug ring is Scott Cicerone, who was arrested in 2010 for a house raffle scheme.
Authorities said Cicerone collected over $100,000 claiming he was going to raffle off his mansion, but never held the raffle and instead, the DA said he pocketed the cash.
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