by CabriniGreen » Sat Jun 12, 2021 6:42 am
Sorry guys.... this is a little better....
By Leonard Buder
Dec. 15, 1984
Credit...The New York Times Archives
See the article in its original context from
December 15, 1984, Section 1, Page 27Buy Reprints
VIEW ON TIMESMACHINE
.
In a series of raids that began before dawn yesterday, Federal agents, New York City detectives and state troopers arrested 32 people described as members of three interrelated heroin and cocaine rings here. Seven other people were still being sought last night.
Police Commissioner Benjamin Ward said the arrests marked ''a dismantling of interrelated drug importation networks'' with bases in New York City ''which did a combined gross business of $100 million annually.''
''These arrests reach very high in the drug trade in terms of importing narcotics,'' the Commissioner said at a news conference at Police Headquarters.
The arrests were carried out in the city, Long Island, upstate New York, New Jersey and Florida. There was no reported resistance. Authorities said they seized five and a half pounds of heroin and a pound and a half of cocaine, with a combined street value of $3 million, and $137,000 in cash and seven guns. 'Enormous Amounts' of Heroin
Federal prosecutors, who joined Commissioner Ward in announcing the arrests, said most of the defendants were natives of Sicily who had come to this country in the last 10 or 20 years and become American citizens. Many, they said, were related by blood or marriage.
Because of their backgrounds, they were ''able to exploit contacts in Sicily who supplied them on demand with enormous amounts of higher quality heroin,'' the authorities said in a joint announcement.
The officials declined to say whether those arrested were involved with organized-crime groups in Sicily or New York, or with the so-called Pizza Connection, which has resulted in many arrests in recent months.
Rudolph W. Giuliani, the United States Attorney for the Southern District, said that according to an affidavit filed in Federal court, when an undercover agent who was buying drugs as part of the investigation complained about the price, one of the defendants replied: ''The price is not set by me, it's set by the capo.'' The term usually refers to a high-ranking organized- crime figure.
Authorities said the defendents operated out of a barbershop, restaurants, an auto body repair shop and other places of businesses, largely in Brooklyn and Manhattan, to conceal their illegal activities.
The officials said that among the more prominent members of the rings were Joseph Spatola, 32 years old, and his brother, Frederico, 41, both of Astoria, Queens, and their cousin, Salvatore Spatola, 36, of Maspeth, Queens; Vito Pepitone, 35, of Ridgewood, N.J., and Nicolo Argano, 41, of Williston Park, N.Y.
All 32 defendants were charged with conspiracy to sell drugs and some were charged with the sale of drugs.
Raymond J. Dearie, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District, described the rings as ''triple threat'' operations that had the ability to import drugs and sell to wholesale and retail markets ''without breaking the lines of the organization.''
The arrests were the culmination of separate investigations started 18 months ago under the auspices of the President's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.
Sorry guys.... this is a little better....
By Leonard Buder
Dec. 15, 1984
Credit...The New York Times Archives
See the article in its original context from
December 15, 1984, Section 1, Page 27Buy Reprints
VIEW ON TIMESMACHINE
.
In a series of raids that began before dawn yesterday, Federal agents, New York City detectives and state troopers arrested 32 people described as members of three interrelated heroin and cocaine rings here. Seven other people were still being sought last night.
Police Commissioner Benjamin Ward said the arrests marked ''a dismantling of interrelated drug importation networks'' with bases in New York City ''which did a combined gross business of $100 million annually.''
''These arrests reach very high in the drug trade in terms of importing narcotics,'' the Commissioner said at a news conference at Police Headquarters.
The arrests were carried out in the city, Long Island, upstate New York, New Jersey and Florida. There was no reported resistance. Authorities said they seized five and a half pounds of heroin and a pound and a half of cocaine, with a combined street value of $3 million, and $137,000 in cash and seven guns. 'Enormous Amounts' of Heroin
Federal prosecutors, who joined Commissioner Ward in announcing the arrests, said most of the defendants were natives of Sicily who had come to this country in the last 10 or 20 years and become American citizens. Many, they said, were related by blood or marriage.
Because of their backgrounds, they were ''able to exploit contacts in Sicily who supplied them on demand with enormous amounts of higher quality heroin,'' the authorities said in a joint announcement.
The officials declined to say whether those arrested were involved with organized-crime groups in Sicily or New York, or with the so-called Pizza Connection, which has resulted in many arrests in recent months.
Rudolph W. Giuliani, the United States Attorney for the Southern District, said that according to an affidavit filed in Federal court, when an undercover agent who was buying drugs as part of the investigation complained about the price, one of the defendants replied: ''The price is not set by me, it's set by the capo.'' The term usually refers to a high-ranking organized- crime figure.
Authorities said the defendents operated out of a barbershop, restaurants, an auto body repair shop and other places of businesses, largely in Brooklyn and Manhattan, to conceal their illegal activities.
The officials said that among the more prominent members of the rings were Joseph Spatola, 32 years old, and his brother, Frederico, 41, both of Astoria, Queens, and their cousin, Salvatore Spatola, 36, of Maspeth, Queens; Vito Pepitone, 35, of Ridgewood, N.J., and Nicolo Argano, 41, of Williston Park, N.Y.
All 32 defendants were charged with conspiracy to sell drugs and some were charged with the sale of drugs.
Raymond J. Dearie, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District, described the rings as ''triple threat'' operations that had the ability to import drugs and sell to wholesale and retail markets ''without breaking the lines of the organization.''
The arrests were the culmination of separate investigations started 18 months ago under the auspices of the President's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.