Officials announced today the arrest and indictment of seven defendants in connection with sales of fentanyl and heroin to undercover officers and the possession and attempted possession of weapons. One defendant is charged in connection with a fentanyl overdose that was reversed by emergency responders.
Beginning yesterday morning, members of the NYPD and Strike Force arrested six defendants in the Bronx and Manhattan on a total of 48 counts, including Conspiracy, Criminal Sale and Possession of a Controlled Substance, Criminal Possession of a Weapon, Attempted Criminal Possession of a Weapon and Reckless Endangerment. A seventh defendant was already in custody on unrelated charges. Arraignments are scheduled for this morning before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Abraham Clott, Part 61, 111 Centre Street, 9th floor.
The investigation began in April of 2017 and focused on an open air drug market in the vicinity of Marion Avenue and 194th Street in the Fordham Manor section of the Bronx, a few blocks from Fordham University. This illicit market falls within the NYPD’s 52nd Precinct, which encompasses neighborhoods with some of the highest overdose death rates in the city, according to data from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). New York City experienced a 46% increase in overdose deaths in 2016, which DOHMH has attributed to fentanyl. A synthetic opioid, fentanyl is produced illicitly and is approximately 50 times stronger than heroin.
Charges in the indictment relate to 15 sales of narcotics to undercover police officers for a total of nearly $10,000. The investigation revealed that the defendants claimed to be selling heroin. However, laboratory analysis by the NYPD determined the substance sold in each of these instances was either a mixture of heroin and fentanyl or in some cases fentanyl alone.
During the investigation, police learned that Billy Perez, 39, allegedly supplied several street level dealers operating in the open air market with fentanyl and heroin. Police observed Perez allegedly transporting narcotics from his residence at 109A Cove Court in the Soundview neighborhood of the Bronx and handing the drugs off to an intermediary in the vicinity of an apartment associated with Perez at 2600 Marion Avenue. The intermediary passed the narcotics to Hector Figueroa, 61, who lived in the neighborhood.
Figueroa allegedly supplied the narcotics to street level dealers operating in the open air drug market in front of a gated parking lot and recycling collection site. Following drug sales, the alleged dealers made cash payments to Figueroa and the intermediary. The defendants discussed the transportation and sale of narcotics in phone conversations and through text messages.
On September 3, 2017, stationary video camera captured one street level dealer, STANLEY SACARILLO, 35, selling glassines to a customer seated in front of the gated parking lot on Marion Avenue. The customer snorted one envelope and then the other. Shortly afterwards, the customer began to overdose. On the video, SACARILLO could be seen checking the overdose victim’s pulse and making a phone call. He then carried the overdose victim around a corner away from the drug market. The phone call proved to be to 911. An ambulance arrived and emergency responders successfully revived the victim. SACARILLO is charged with Reckless Endangerment in connection with the sale that led to the overdose.
During the investigation, SACARILLO allegedly made more than one dozen sales to undercover officers during the investigation, including the largest sale in the case, which took place three days after the overdose. On September 6, 2017, SACARILLO allegedly sold 300 individual dose glassines envelopes of purported heroin to an undercover officer for $2,850. Analysis by the NYPD laboratory showed these glassines contained fentanyl and not heroin.
PEREZ and SACARILLO also face weapons charges as a result of the wiretap investigation. PEREZ is charged with possessing a loaded firearm with intent to use the weapon against another on September 20, 2017. Video from a stationary camera on that date shows him walk into the parking lot, where he is alleged to have retrieved the gun, and then quickly head into the lobby of 2600 Marion Avenue. SACARILLO is charged with attempting to possess a gun on September 9, 2017. The investigation revealed he paid money for a weapon, but it appears that he never received it.
A court authorized search of BILLY PEREZ’s residence yesterday at 109A Cove Court yielded approximately $200,000 cash, a quantity of a powdered substance suspected to be heroin/fentanyl, including 562 filled glassine envelopes stamped with an image of a kneeling skeleton and the brand name “Pray for Death.” Another 100 glassines of suspected heroin/fentanyl bearing the same “Pray for Death” stamp were recovered from the residence of HECTOR FIGUEROA, 365 East 193rd Street, around the corner from the open air drug market. A small quantity of suspected heroin/fentanyl and clothing and items associated with PEREZ were recovered from 2600 Marion Avenue, Apt. 6.
