A group that included a retired cop and an honors student was busted for allegedly operating a large-scale heroin operation out of a Woodhaven home, federal officials said on Monday.
Twenty members of the so-called “Perez Organization,” an alleged drug trafficking ring, were charged with distributing over 20 kilograms of heroin, worth $2.75 million on the street, to drug dealers in Queens and on Long Island, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said.
The organization’s leadership was allegedly centralized at a house on 87th Avenue and 78th Street in Woodhaven, and they were charged with having distribution networks in Nassau and Suffolk counties and a storage facility in Brooklyn, the FBI said.
Among those allegedly involved were Roland Stern, a retired Suffolk County police officer and his daughter, Corey Stern; Kathryn Pappas, an honors college student; and Dana Sollecito, who allegedly sold heroin from the parking lot of her family’s restaurant in Massapequa, LI.
“The charges and arrests announced today have ended the activities of an alleged heroin distribution organization whose members were drawn from a variety of backgrounds but were united by a common cause — profiting personally while seriously endangering the lives of so many residents in our communities,” said Loretta Lynch, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
Janice Fedarcyk, an FBI assistant director, said the crackdown was especially important because “heroin use among suburban teens is alarmingly popular.”
“A potentially lethal dose can be purchased for about the cost of a pack of cigarettes or a six-pack of beer,” Fedarcyk said.
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