Two borough residents were among 18 charged in oxycodone distribution network, including three TSA agents, a Florida state trooper and an officer from Westchester County police, federal prosecutors said.
Twenty people have been arrested, including police officers, TSA agents and two Naugatuck residents, in a multi-state oxycodone trafficking ring investigation that concluded Tuesday.
According to a Department of Justice press release, Naugatuck residents Steven Stopper, 46, and Kevin Lund, 38, were taken into custody on federal charges of conspiring to distribute oxycodone, and possession of oxycodone with the intent to distribute.
"The arrests we announce today are part of 'Operation Blue Coast', an investigation that began approximately five months ago," U.S. U.S. Attorney David B. Fein said during a press conference in Stamford.
The two Naugatuck suspects were implicated in the drug trafficking ring, which went between Florida and Connecticut. If convicted, the two borough suspects - along with several others - face a maximum term of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million.
The investigation began April 8 after an unnamed suspect was arrested after police discovered him in possession of 6,000 oxycodone pills while he was in a Stamford hotel, according to the press release. The suspect went on to become an informant for the Drug Enforcement Agency after he alerted authorities that, over a course of a year, he was regularly buying the narcotics from suppliers in Florida, and transporting them to Connecticut by commercial airline or car.
From there, the oxycodone pills were sold to various Connecticut-based narcotics traffickers for higher prices than he had paid in Florida, prosecutors said. He said he would travel several times a week between both states, carrying up to 8,000 pills each trip, the release stated.
"The principal traffickers are all based in Waterbury," Fein said.
According to federal authorities, the informant paid off Transportation Security Agency officers with cash and gift cards. This would secure his passage onto flights while he carried these large supplies of pills, the release detailed.
The three officers were Christopher Allen, 45, and John Best, 30, of Florida, as well as Brigitte Jones, 48, of Bronx, N.Y.
The suspect also made several payments, totaling more than $20,000, to Westchester County Police Officer Michael Brady to ensure that his large quantities of cash — resulting from the drug trafficking — could make it through airport security, the release stated.
And the payoff didn’t end there.
Justin Kolves, a 28-year-old Florida state trooper, also took cash and check payments in exchange for the traffickers' ability to transport drugs through that state’s highway system. Prosecutors also said Kolves provided “protection” to one trafficker.
Kolves’ fiancé, Jessica Douglas, 28, assisted in the conspiracy when she accepted money on Kolves’ behave.
Other low-level suspects were also arrested: an alleged driver, Sami Naber, 51 of Yonkers, N.Y., traffickers Emmanuel Babe, 38, of Mount Kisco, N.Y., and Wilner Satelin, 42, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Locally, four Waterbury residents were also arrested: Bruce Yazdzik, 28, David Gaudiosi, 26, Patrick Serafine, 26, and Marivette Alicea, 21.
All the above suspects are facing the same charges: conspiring to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute oxycodone.
In addition Bernard Famigliett, 49, of Waterbury, and Sandra Canfield, 30 of, Waterbury, were arrested during the course of the investigation and charged with possession with intent to distribute oxycodone, a charge that also carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years and a fine of up to $1 million.
Watch video
Watch video
No comments:
Post a Comment