BRONX W www.BXTimes.com EEKLY February 24, 2019 8
Police bust Soundview-Yonkers heroin and fentanyl ring
The School of American Ballet
Beauty of Ballet
A ballet performance featuring advanced SAB students
the
presents
See excerpts from classical ballets and learn
how talented young students train to become
professional dancers!
SUNDAY, MARCH 3, 2019, at 2:00 PM
in association with
AT L I N C O L N C E N T E R
Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture
Repertory Theater at Hostos Community College
450 Grand Concourse at 149th St., Bronx
Pick up free tickets at box offi ce starting
at 1 pm on the day of the show.
Seating is fi rst come, fi rst served.
www.sab.org/beautyofballet
for ages
4 and
above
School of American Ballet is the official school of New York City Ballet
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and
Council Members Stephen Levin and Helen Rosenthal, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, and by gifts from Capezio and The
Ralph M. Cestone Foundation and The Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation.
Photos by Rosalie O’Connor; George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® choreography by George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust
A FREE
family
program!
BY ROBERT WIRSING
Five men were arrested for
their alleged connection to a
wholesale heroin and fentanyl
distribution network in Soundview
and Yonkers.
According to District Attorney
Darcel Clark’s Offi ce, Juan
Silva Santos, 39, of Ridge Hill,
Yonkers; Ezequiel Then, 30, of
Soundview; Wilton Paulino, 22,
of Soundview, Jesus Vega Guzman,
35, of Sinaloa, Mexico and
Candido De Jesus, 62, of Manhattan
were arrested on October
25, 2018 following an investigation
by the New York Drug
Enforcement Task Force Group
T-32 comprised of DEA, NYPD
and NYSP agents and police offi
cers.
Approximately 70 pounds of
heroin and fentanyl were recovered
from 950 Underhill Avenue
and 701 Ridge Hill Boulevard
that same day.
The narcotics’ wholesale
value totals $1.75 million with a
street value of $10 million.
De Jesus was arraigned on
Thursday, January 24 and entered
a not guilty plea.
Santos, Then, Paulino and
Guzman were arraigned on
Thursday, January 31 before
Manhattan Supreme Court
Justice Abraham Clott.
Santos is due back at court
on Friday, March 29.
Paulino, Then, De Jesus
and Guzman return to court
on Thursday, May 23.
Between September 4 to October
25, NYDETF observed
Santos, Then, De Jesus and
Paulino allegedly visit 950 Underhill
Avenue, Apartment 7K
on multiple occasions.
On October 24, agents and
detectives observed Santos
and Then leave the 950 Underhill
Avenue apartment in a
taxi traveling to JFK Airport.
De Jesus exited the building
and allegedly discarded
two trash bags containing
drug packaging materials and
paraphernalia before leaving
with Paulino.
Investigators discovered
Guzman allegedly represented
a Mexico-based narcotics supply
organization and had travelled
to NYC via JFK Airport.
Detectives and agents
learned that Santos resided
at 701 Ridge Hill Boulevard,
Apartment 5B and owned a
storage locker S59.
On October 25, NYDETF
and the Special Narcotics Prosecutor’s
Offi ce obtained search
warrants for the apartments
and storage locker.
At 6:50 p.m., the defendants
were apprehended by law enforcement
at 950 Underhill Avenue
and a nearby Popeye’s Restaurant.
Forty pounds of heroin, fentanyl
and valeryl fentanyl were
recovered from the Soundview
apartment.
Twenty-six pounds of heroin
and fentanyl were discovered in
a hidden compartment inside a
bedroom closet’s back wall.
Drugs were also recovered
between the box springs, mattress
and underneath a bed in
the bedroom.
A kilo press allegedly used
to reshape heroin and fentanyl
mixtures into bricks was discovered
next to a bed.
A search of the Yonkers
apartment yielded $28,000 cash
inside a master bedroom’s
closet.
Storage locker S59 contained
30 pounds of fentanyl and heroin
inside a suitcase.
Santos was charged with operating
as a major traffi cker,
conspiracy in the second degree,
two counts of criminal
possession of a controlled substance
in the fi rst degree, two
counts of criminal possession
of a controlled substance in the
third degree and criminally
using drug paraphernalia.
Then, Paulino and Guzman
were charged with conspiracy
in the second degree, criminal
possession of a controlled substance
in the fi rst and third
degrees and criminally using
drug paraphernalia.
De Jesus was charged with
conspiracy in the second degree
and criminal possession
of a controlled substance in the
fi rst and third degrees.
Heroin and fentanyl seized by the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force. Photo
courtesy of DEA
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