Thirteen individuals have been charged in connection with a New York City-based drug trafficking network. Federal agents seized nearly 500 kilos of cocaine, according to an announcement by United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III and several law enforcement leaders.
On June 12, officers from the New York State Police (NYSP), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted searches at 24 locations across New York and New Jersey. These operations were part of efforts to dismantle a drug trafficking network that transported drugs from California to New York City and Upstate New York. The raids resulted in the seizure of approximately 250 kilos of cocaine, fentanyl pills, other drugs, paraphernalia, a firearm, and over $1 million in cash. Arrests also occurred in Georgia and Pennsylvania.
The investigation spanned 18 months, during which law enforcement confiscated more than 240 kilos of cocaine, 185 pounds of methamphetamine, and nearly 700 pounds of marijuana.
United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III commented on the operation: “Using an all-hands-on-deck approach, we have smashed a sophisticated, New York City-based drug trafficking organization that was pumping poison into our Upstate New York communities.”
DEA Special Agent Frank A. Tarentino noted: “Over the past year and a half… our DEA team… have successfully targeted the Abdelhak drug trafficking organization which has plagued and poisoned our communities here in New York.”
FBI Special Agent Craig A. Tremaroli stated: “This network’s reach was expansive – moving drugs from California to sell in communities within the Capital Region… But the reach of our federal task forces is deeper.”
NYSP Superintendent Steven G. James added: “This investigation and the arrests that followed reflect our unwavering commitment to protecting the public from the violence and devastation drug trafficking brings to our communities.”
According to a criminal complaint, those charged include Samer Abdelhak from Fresh Meadows; Leon Chen from Long Island City; Michael Harper from Corning; Anthony Medina from Painted Post; Broslloyd Campbell from Hewlett; Anthony Dixon Jr. from Jackson; Chaquill Foster from Schenectady; Christopher Smith from Fresh Meadows; Jason Hogue from Lake Placid; Christopher Christman also known as “Free” or “Puffy,” Cesar Ariel Castro-Sanchez from Palisades Park; Jocelyn Foster from Amsterdam; Mikell Butler also hailing from Schenectady.
Nearly all defendants face charges carrying potential sentences ranging between ten years to life imprisonment upon conviction.
The NYSP collaborated with DEA’s Capital District Drug Enforcement Task Force and FBI’s Capital District Safe Streets Gang Task Force on this case alongside several local law enforcement agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cyrus P.W. Rieck, Katherine Kopita, and Nicholas Walter are handling prosecution duties.
This case forms part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation aiming at high-level criminal organizations threatening national security through multi-agency coordination strategies led by prosecutors leveraging intelligence-driven approaches.
