About 100 people were arrested on Wednesday in a crackdown on two criminal gangs that authorities said trafficked heroin and cocaine from the Dominican Republican and Puerto Rico into southeastern Connecticut, Reuters reported. More than 700 law enforcement officers made federal and state arrest and arrest warrants in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Puerto Rico and Rhode Island, officials said.
"The defendants arrested today were responsible for a very large percentage of the heroin and cocaine available for street sale in New London County," federal prosecutor said. The arrests were the result of the 15-month investigation, led by the federal prosecutor's office in Connecticut and a unit of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Authorites said they seized drugs, weapons, cash and vehicles. The subjects arrested were transported to U.S. District Court in New Haven, Connecticut. Most were facing charges that could carry mandatory minimum prison terms of five to 10 years.
The heroin ring was being operated out of an apartment building on Hawthorn Drive in New London, officials said.
Homeland Security Investigations, along with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners, are executing numerous federal and state arrest and search warrants at locations in southeastern Connecticut.
Reuters reports on one citizen from the Dominican Republic, brought "multi-kilogram quantities" of heroin from his native country, working with several invdividuals to distribute the drug in southeastern Connecticut. He is accused of optaining heroin in New York City and Rhode Island.
Maldonado supplied customers with raw heroin operating out of his apartment in New London, law enforcement said.
