Brooklyn DA Busts Big Heroin Ring

BY JOHN SAKELOS

Brooklyn DA Kenneth P. Thompson announced on Thursday the breaking up of a 25-person heroin distribution ring, which included a community service supervisor, and an aspiring drug counselor in a family-run, Brooklyn-based operation that spanned the city.

At the center of the transactions, authorities said, was Josie Tavera, 24, who allegedly distributed various brands of heroin such as “Power Hour,” “Knockout,” and Scorpion,” from his Driggs Ave. apartment in Williamsburg to locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island from January to this month.

“His mother helped launder the proceeds that they gained from selling this heroin,” Thompson said at a press conference.“And his sister, Sheila, helped bag and transport some of their heroin.”

Tavera’s brother, Jose Taveras, 25, and cousins Christian Rodriguez, 24, and Gustavo Taveras, 27, were also charged with distributing the heroin to his apartment.

Officials charged that the group,  operating since early 2014, distributed 25,000 glassine envelopes each month, pulling in a street value of more than $1.5 million.

The two alleged main distributors of the crew, Jason Collazo, 36, and Michael Mineo, 37, both residents of Staten Island, were according to Thompson, “supposed to be a part of the solution, but instead allegedly distributed heroin on Staten Island, which had a burgeoning heroin problem.”

Collazo, whose job at the Midtown Manhattan Community Court was to supervise defendants performing community service, used the Court’s phone to peddle heroin packages throughout Brooklyn and Staten Island to Tavera and to Mineo, the indictment alleges.

 

Meanwhile, the investigation showed that Mineo had applied for employment at the New York State Office of Alcoholism, and Substance Abuse Services.

“So just think of the damage that he could’ve caused by selling heroin to those recovering drug addicts he was supposed to help,” Thompson said.

”Many of us know that heroin is a very dangerous drug, people have died, and they continue to die from this drug,” Thompson said. “But what we learned during this investigation is that the defendants Jason Collazo, and Michael Mineo knew that their scorpion brand of heroin led to some dangerous consequences.”

Wire tap audio played at the news conference revealed the defendants laughing and poking fun at the severe reaction that their customers reported was a result of their heroin, which included “swelling of the lips,” “swelling of the eyes,” “hives from head to toe,” and “feeling like one got bit by a scorpion.”

All but one defendant, Walter Simms, an alleged street dealer of the heroin ring, has yet to surrender to authorities.

The 25 defendants were each charged with a 368-count indictment of second-degree conspiracy, a sentence of up to 25 years in prison. Others were individually sentenced with criminal sale of a controlled substance, criminal possession of a controlled substance, and money laundering.

“I think it’s extraordinary, that a mother, and her grown children would come together, to spread poison on the streets of New York City,” Thompson said. “I hope that’s not happening with other families, and I trust that these folks are truly an aberration.”