The FBI has indicted 20 alleged heroin dealers who flooded Queens and Long Island with over 20 kilograms of junk over the course of the nine-month joint investigation, which was dubbed "Operation County Connection." In an early-morning raid, federal agents swooped in and made arrests at homes in Nassau and Suffolk Counties, as well as in Brooklyn and Queens. The distribution ring, which slung smack to a mostly suburban clientele, was allegedly run by 26-year-old Jose Perez, whom feds say imported the horse from the Dominican Republic and Mexico, then distributed from his headquarters in Woodhaven, Queens. And Perez had an eclectic cast of characters helping him, according to the indictment. more ›

A woman claiming to be three months pregnant was found to be stashing $20,000 worth of heroin. According to the Daily News, 42-year-old Nigerian national Afolake Awoyemi arrived at JFK last Wednesday from Paris and told Customs officials that the bulge in her "groin area" could be attributed to the miracle of life, but during a partial strip search, the heroin began falling out. Has no one told Customs what happens what a man and a woman love each other very, very much? more ›

We hope he drank the scotch before adding the H! On New Year's Eve customs officials stopped Miami man Wilfer Bohorquez Rojo, 53, as he allegedly tried to smuggle 25 pounds of heroin from Medillin, Colombia, to Newark Airport. At first authorities just thought he had smuggled the drugs in "packages of plastic flags and between glued photographs" but further inspection found he'd filled four Chivas Royal Salute scotch bottles with "packages of a substance that also tested positive for heroin, according to the agency." more ›

Parenting 101: When caring for your infant child, there's no more convenient place to shoot smack than in the parking lot of a Toys 'R' Us. Today's depressing police blotter item comes from a Toys 'R' Us in Holbrook, Long Island, where the mother of a newborn baby was allegedly caught by cops as she was about to shoot up in her Hyundai Thursday afternoon. Just a little horse for Mommy, then we'll go say hi to that stupid camel—will that finally make you STOP CRYING?! more ›

Drug dealers are reportedly giving up on lower class neighborhoods in favor of more up-and-coming hoods. Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan today tells the News that the city has "seen a pattern developing of heroin mills located in upscale and middle-class neighborhoods." And to prove that, one need look no further then Red Hook, which had something of a blast from the past last week when police raided a heroin mill on Van Brunt Street there and found a stash of heroin worth between $30,000-$50,000 (including 60 grams of pure uncut h). more ›

Four men were arrested Tuesday and accused of selling heroin out of a Long Island beer distributor near two schools. Two Bronx men, Jason Cruz, 21, and Jeffrey Marmolejos, 22, were arrested after police purchased several bags of heroin from them at Wantagh Beverage. “The fact that it's next to the schools is what is of particular interest in this case,” said Detective Lt. William Burke of the Suffolk Narcotics Squad. more ›

Last week, Jason Itzler, the infamous and self-proclaimed "King of All Pimps," was in court to plead not guilty to charges of selling cocaine, promoting prostitution and laundering money, before his pants fell to his ankles and he shuffled out of court. Yesterday, he told the judge that his arrest was part of a huge conspiracy involving an Achy, Breaky singer and a billionaire mayor, "Billy Ray Cyrus is best friends with Mayor Bloomberg. Bloomberg has a tendency to cover things up." more ›

Three men have been charged with selling cocaine, heroin, crack, painkillers and guns near the Chelsea Houses in Manhattan. And lacking any airbags, cat statues, hangers, and submarines to hide their drugs in, prosecutors said the dealers instead hid cocaine and heroin in the alleged ringleader's infant daughter's diaper bag and stroller. Don't they know that children's coloring books are for smuggling drugs? more ›

Sneakers are popular for smuggling drugs, what with their thick soles, but who knew that saris were also used in drug trafficking? Customs and Border Protection agents became suspicious when a package shipped from India had a very strong chemical odor, so they opened up the package at JFK Airport. Inside, they found many of the Indian dresses... with heroin sewn into the hems. more ›

Well, that explains it. Two suspects (yesterday reports said there were three) arrested for attempting to mow down a Port Authority cop were carrying heroin at the time, and were fleeing a drugstore robbery. Police stopped driver Jahaad Sanders, 19, and passenger Lorenzo Dease, 24, after they crossed five lanes of traffic to approach the tunnel. Sanders's foster mother said, "He's always had problems. He just came home from Rikers last year for holding up a drugstore in Manhattan." more ›

Yesterday marked two huge drug busts across the city, the first obtaining $10 million worth of heroin inside a duffle bag from two suspects in the Bronx. Andy Moscat, 28, and Francisco Ramirez, 41 were nabbed at the bust after a long undercover probe, and 40 pounds worth of heroin was found packed in bricks in the bag. Unfortunately, Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan said heroin busts are becoming all too common: "These big seizures are definitely more common now than they were. Even one kilo of heroin would have been a rare find five years ago." more ›

Considering it was used by college kids for the first few years of its existance, is it any real surprise that Facebook has been a great tool for international drug rings? Luvman Allison has been indicted by Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn after allegedly using Facebook to arrange a heroin delivery through JFK Airport. The Ghanaian native allegedly "explicitly discussed the methods he uses to covertly transport narcotics" over the website, so clearly he's not too familiar with their lax privacy settings. more ›

Three men were arrested for possession of 200 grams of heroin (street value: $20,000) in Jersey City yesterday. The men, who are allegedly part of a wholesale heroin ring, were charged with heroin distribution. Two of them Nelson Alvarado-Jimenez and Geuri Green, both 27 and from Queens, were stopped in a car by Narcotics Task Force detectives, who found "100 grams of heroin and $700 in cash" and "Green's 5-year-old child was in the back seat." The child has been turned over to relatives; Green was also charged with endangering the welfare of a child. more ›

It's Operation Ivy League Part 2! A Cornell University senior has been arrested after police found her with a Tupperware container with six ounces of uncut heroin, worth about $150,000. Keri Lynn Blakinger, 26, was arrested in the parking lot of Ithaca's Hillside Inn, and Deputy Ithaca Police Chief John Barber said, "The preliminary weight of the heroin indicates it may be the second largest seizure of the drug by the Ithaca Police Department since September of 2008." She was also described as "not acting right." Was she peeing in bottles too? more ›

It seems like people really love trying to sneak heroin into JFK, but considering how often they get caught, you'd think they might try a different airport. In the third incident in as many months, custom officials seized more than 16 pounds of heroin in six pairs of pants and five pairs of cargo shorts at JFK. more ›

It's hard to muster much surprise every time we hear about a luxury midtown apartment getting busted with coke heads, weird marble sculptures, and Real Housewives of Orange County DVD sets. Those things come with utilities, right? But it's not everyday that you hear about a multi-million dollar "heroin mill" business operating out of one such luxury midtown apartment building, a stones throw away from Times Square. more ›

How can you tell when you've been slinging drugs for too long on the same corner? When police are able to use Google Maps to identify you. NYPD set up a sting on a drug crew working near the Cooper Park Houses in East Williamsburg yesterday, busting seven dealers including three whose faces were captured in the Google street view. And the police did so in the guise of hipsters. "They were catering to the hipster crowd, among other customers," one law-enforcement source told the Post. more ›

With heroin flowing into the city at an alarming rate, Federal officials are warning the NYPD to be on the lookout for the drug. The Health Department says the number of city high schoolers who have tried heroin rose from 1.3% in 2007 to 2.6% in 2009, and now users have discovered it's even easier to snort when mixed with crushed up Tylenol PM—a highly-addictive combination called "cheese." Apparently the ridiculous name isn't enough to keep teens away. more ›

Just a regular week at JFK! In a recent six-day span, about 44 pounds of heroin, worth $1.5MM was smuggled in on flights from Ecuador. Reportedly, in two cases the drugs were found inside of bags of powdered milk and coffee after drug-sniffing dogs honed in on the luggage. In the third incident, the heroin was discovered by customs agents, who found it taped to the body of former soccer referee Byron Moreno. He is now being held without bail. more ›

Trying to think of somewhere romantic and pun-filled to take your sweetie tonight to celebrate International Talk Like a Pirate Day? You might want to stay away from Valentine Avenue in the Bronx. The Bedford Park road has become central to the burgeoning heroin trade; according to the News, there have been relentless stabbings, gunfire, street robberies and gang activity over the summer there. One veteran narcotics investigator said the neighborhood was as bad as Washington Heights in the '80s: "It's been that way for quite some time. There's a saturation effect. After a while, people on the block will ignore it rather than jeopardize their safety by complaining." more ›

During a raid of a massive Queens drug ring, police say that they arrested a 12-year-old girl who was selling drugs. The Post reports, "The grade-schooler, whose name was not released because of her age, sold the drugs to an undercover, officials said. 'She does not look 12,' said NYPD Inspector Michael Bryan. 'We were very shocked to find out' her age." more ›

1010WINS reports that $56,000 (street value) worth of heroin was seized from a shipment at JFK Airport. Described as a "garment sample," "The shipment arrived Tuesday from Ghaziabad, India and was destined for Detroit, Michigan. Wooden hangers found in the shipment were examined and a white powdery substance found in them tested positive for heroin, officials said." This is not as impressive as the $22 million worth of heroin that was molded into furniture, but it's on par with hiding it in the soles of flip-flops. more ›

As a result of a 9-month-long joint investigation involving wiretaps on 28 telephone lines, video surveillance, and "buys" by undercover detectives, the NYPD has busted a massive heroin ring in the Fordham section of the Bronx. Known as "La Perla Organization," it dealt an estimated $40,000 a day worth of the drug at three street corners in the Bronx, and operated out of three mills in Riverdale and Pehlam Parkway. The Bronx DA says an "overwhelming" number of those arrested were members of the Latin Kings. more ›

The medical examiner's office stated that Andrew Koppel, the son of broadcast journalist Ted Koppel, died from "acute intoxication due to the combined effects of alcohol; heroin; cocaine; diazepam, the generic form of Valium; and Levamisole, a drug used to cut other drugs." The 40-year-old was found not breathing in a Washington Heights apartment after an all-day drinking binge on Memorial Day (the apartment belonged to a friend of Koppel's drinking buddy) and was later pronounced dead on May 31. The police does not suspect any criminality. Koppel, who had a history of substance abuse issues, was expecting a second child with his partner Ilona Lieberman. more ›

A lesson in hubris to all you up-and-coming drug peddlers: Notorious Harlem drug kingpin Frank Lucas, who was famously portrayed by Denzel Washington in the movie American Gangster, has a new autobiography out this week, spanning his life from head of a $1 million-a-day heroin empire to DEA informant to non-profit worker. He also reveals the article of clothing he believes directly led to his downfall: a $100,000 floor-length chinchilla coat. more ›

A Bronx drug operation was taken down by members of city, state and federal agencies in "Operation Siesta." DEA agent Wilbert Plummer said, "Innocent men, women and children had to live in fear of the drug dealers who used 11 apartments to stash, sell, and cook drugs for street level sales." Fifteen people were arrested, including alleged leader Jose Delorbe, and $175,000 in cash, two illegal guns and 14 pounds of heroin and cocaine were found in hidden compartments in 11 Bronx apartments. more ›

Police raided an apartment in the Bronx yesterday and discovered more than $1 million worth of heroin. Seven kilos of heroin were found in the Sterling Avenue apt. where the heroin mill was run out of; the heroin had already been cut and placed into 50,000 glassine envelopes that sell for about $20 each, said the city Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor. They were labeled with names such as "Maserati," "Heat Wave" and "Body Bag." more ›