Rockland, federal authorities seize $1.5M worth of cocaine in raids. What to know
NEW CITY – Two Clarkstown residents face felony drug charges after police raided two houses and seized major quantities of drugs, including five kilos of cocaine with an estimated street value of $1.5 million, authorities said Wednesday.
Investigators also seized two guns, $23,000 cash, marijuana, and edible tetrahydrocannabinol, known as THC, in packages with common candy names. THC is a psychoactive synthetic component.
Two arrested in raids in Congers, Nyack
The raids kicked off on Friday after investigators identified Carl Desir, 48, as a drug dealer and his acquaintance, Melissa Brown, 43, both of Congers, authorities said in a statement released during a news conference on Wednesday at the Rockland District Attorney's Office.
The raid of a house in Congers on Friday led to the arrests of Desir and Brown, Rockland District Attorney Thomas Walsh said. At the undisclosed house, investigators seized four kilos of cocaine, a Tec9 mm gun with hollow bullet ammunition, THC, drug paraphernalia, and $23,000, Walsh said.
A raid on a Nyack house produced a kilo of cocaine, an automatic pistol, 12 Oxycontin pills and $200 cash. Authorities declined to release information on the location or targets, citing the investigation.
Authorities charged Desir and Brown with first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and one count of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
A Clarkstown town justice ordered Desir held without bail in the County Jail while setting Brown's bail at $10,000. Both are scheduled to return to court on Thursday. A grand jury will likely hear the charges.
Officers executed a court-approved search warrant as part of the joint investigation of the Rockland District Attorney's Office Drug Task Force, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and local police departments.
DEA calls those arrested significant drug dealers
DEA Special Agent Frank Tarentino, who oversees the New York Division, called Desir and Brown "significant" drug traffickers" who are "pushing poisons our streets."
Tarentino said the raids again "establish a link between drugs and guns."
"Those arrests and seizures take two major dangers off our streets: drugs and guns," Tarentino said. "Drug dealers like Desir profit off the sale of narcotics, putting our communities in danger of addiction, overdoses and poisonings."
"This is not a war on drugs," he said. "This is a war to save lives."
Walsh, who is scheduled to announce his bid for a second, four-year term on Thursday, said "keeping our streets and communities safe from dangerous drugs and violence is a top priority."
The District Attorney's Office Drug Task Force, established in the 1970s, now comprises DA's investigators and prosecutors and officers assigned from Clarkstown, Orangetown, Haverstraw and the Sheriff's Office.
Steve Lieberman covers government, breaking news, courts, police, and investigations. Reach him at slieberm@lohud.com. Twitter: @lohudlegal.
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This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Two Clarkstown residents charged with possessing drugs, guns in raids
