Feds, NYPD Arrest 16 Drug Dealing Suspects From ‘Street Pharmacy’

NYPD officers and federal agents have arrested more than a dozen drug-dealing suspects from a Washington Heights gang that carried guns and ran a “street pharmacy” that sold heroin, crack and fentanyl, authorities said Wednesday.

The Manhattan federal prosecutor’s office said 16 suspects were allegedly in charge of a complex drug trafficking operation between West 174th and West 175th streets, Amsterdam and Audubon Avenue from 2019 until this month.

The organization set hours, and team managers assigned dealers to work on set shifts, while ensuring that methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, crack, fentanyl, oxycodone, xanax, and marijuana were on the drug market.

The operation was so complicated that when the dealer missed a shift, managers required him to provide a doctor’s note or test positive for COVID-19, the federal government said in a statement.

All of the 174th Street crew members arrested today have been charged with drug trafficking and arms dealing and face the maximum life in prison.

“The success of today’s operation represents another important step in our ongoing efforts to combat drug trafficking and firearms in New York, and strengthens our commitment to our law enforcement partners,” said Ivan J. Arvelo, Special Agent for national security investigations. statement after the bust.

“I am proud of the extensive investigative work our agents have done to apprehend these members of the Washington Heights-based 174th Street Gang, a gang known to be involved in drug dealing and firearms possession,” he added.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams added in a statement: “The indictment alleges that these defendants injected significant quantities of drugs into the community, dumping dangerous drugs on the streets and putting lives at risk. Thanks to the outstanding work of our NYPD, HSI and USSS partners, the defendants now face federal criminal charges.”