52 People Indicted And Charged With 370 Crimes, Part Of AG’s And Syracuse PD’s Narcotics Sweep; Dozens Of Alleged Heroin And Cocaine Dealers Arrested
Several Individuals Also Charged With Conspiracy To Murder Rivals; Investigation Thwarted Numerous Attempts By Defendants To Engage In Shootings
SYRACUSE – Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman, Syracuse Mayor Stephanie A. Miner and Syracuse Police Chief Frank Fowler today announced the indictment of a total of 52 people, including many charged with operating a drug trafficking ring that transported heroin and cocaine throughout Onondaga, Oswego, Madison, Cortland, and St. Lawrence Counties; as well as two groups of individuals within this ring who are alleged to have conspired to murder their rivals.
Approximately 30 individuals indicted today are alleged to be members of the Bricktown Gang, which is alleged to be responsible for a significant amount of violence and drugs on Syracuse streets. The remaining individuals indicted today include both alleged narcotics suppliers and customers who are resellers, as well as alleged members of a rival gang.
The indictments are the result of the Attorney General’s and Syracuse Police Department’s joint investigation, “Operation Bricktown.” The defendants were arrested yesterday and earlier today in a series of raids in the Syracuse area, as well as in Oswego, Cortland, Monroe, and Madison Counties and the states of Pennsylvania and Wyoming.
“These arrests send an unmistakable message: dealing death and violence in our communities will not be tolerated – and we will bring you to justice,” said Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. “Together with last summer’s Operation Smackdown – one of the biggest drug busts in Syracuse history – we’ve taken more than 120 violent drug dealers off the streets of Syracuse, making a major dent in the violent drug gangs plaguing the city. With heroin-related deaths on the rise in our communities, we are committed to partnering with local law enforcement to tackle the crisis.”
Syracuse, like a number of suburban and upstate communities, has seen a surge in heroin-related deaths in recent years. According to a Rockefeller Institute for Government report, overall deaths from drug overdoses and chronic drug abuse in New York increased 71 percent between 2010 and 2015. Operation Brickdown is the first takedown of Attorney General’s Schneiderman’s Suburban and Upstate Response to the Growing Epidemic (“S.U.R.G.E”) Initiative, a multi-pronged effort to target gangs and individuals who deal heroin and commit acts of violence in suburban and upstate communities across New York State.
These arrests follow last summer’s Operation Smackdown, which took another 72 violent alleged drug dealers off the streets of Syracuse.
Over the course of the twelve-month investigation, which was led by the Attorney General’s Organized Crime Task Force (OCTF) and the Syracuse Police Department, authorities seized:
Over two kilograms of cocaine
1,128 envelopes of heroin and over 20 grams of loose heroin
9mm Lorcin handgun, loaded and with the serial number obliterated (through ballistics testing, this gun was linked to thirteen incidents in Syracuse from 2015 to 2016)
.40 caliber Glock handgun, loaded with a 30-round magazine
9mm Sig Sauer handgun, loaded with a 15-round magazine
.45 caliber Taurus handgun, loaded
12-gauge shotgun
Drug paraphernalia, including scales, packaging and cutting agents
$3,657
ecstasy pills and psychedelic mushrooms
