Man caught with 2 kilos of fentanyl in trunk in Queens as overdoses soar in the borough: DA

Rocco Parascandola, John Annese, New York Daily News
·2 min read
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A man was caught driving two kilograms of fentanyl into Queens — as the borough grapples with a surge in overdoses, prosecutors said Sunday.

Dennis Carrol, 31, of Flanders, Long Island, is accused of transporting the deadly opioid from Suffolk County to Queens with intent to sell it. He was indicted Friday on felony drug possession charges.

Carrol was busted with the drugs on Nov. 28 after DEA agents and a Port Authority Police K-9 officer stopped him on 188th St. in Hollis, prosecutors said.

The police dog, Balu, sniffed drugs in the trunk of Carrol’s Nissan Altima. Agents found two bricks of fentanyl in a shopping bag, according to a criminal complaint.

“I was going to see a guy about selling the stuff,” Carrol told cops, according to the criminal complaint against him. His passenger in the car was not arrested.

The drugs, which have a street value of $80,000, could have been split up to make as many as 20,000 counterfeit fentanyl pills, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said.

“Overdose fatalities are up more than 50% in Queens this year,” Katz said. “That is why this case is important and why my office will continue to work relentlessly to get this poison off of our streets.”

So far this year, 315 people have died in Queens of suspected drug overdoses, with fentanyl ODs accounting for more than 76% of those deaths, Katz said.

“Fentanyl is the most dangerous illicit drug on the street today and it presents the most serious threat to public health,” said Frank Tarentino, the DEA Special Agent in Charge of the New York Division.

Katz’s major economics crime team, which handles large drug investigations, teamed up with the DEA to conduct surveillance on Carrol last month before his arrest.

Carrol remains held on $1 million bail and is slated to appear in Queens Supreme Court Monday. He could face up to 30 years behind bars if convicted at trial.

His lawyer, Natasja Viveca Bellinger, said Carrol maintains his innocence. She declined further comment Sunday.