Two men were indicted for manslaughter Monday for allegedly supplying heroin cut with fentanyl to a Riverhead man who fatally overdosed in September 2018, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini. (more…)
Tag: East End Drug Task Force
Update: The following people have been arrested in connection with the investigation announced Tuesday.
A Greenport man who was found to be in possession of heroin and crack cocaine tried to foil police by presenting a fake name and identification, Southold Town police said. READ
The East End Drug Task Force, in conjunction with the Southold Town Police Department, arrested a Greenport man early this morning and charged him with drug possession and endangering the welfare of a child after they said he was found with cocaine while children were present. READ
Police lead Colegedo Mokus (left) and Nigel Ortiz into court Friday morning. (Credit: Cyndi Murray)
Two men facing felony drug charges following an East End Drug Task Force raid in Mattituck remain in custody after failing to post bail following their Friday morning arraignment. (more…)
Police executed a search warrant at a home on Riley Avenue in Mattituck Thursday. (Credit: Good Maps image)
Two men were nabbed in Mattituck on felony drug charges Thursday as part of an ongoing East End Drugs Task Force investigation, according to a Southold Town police press release.
PAUL SQUIRE PHOTO | District attorney Thomas Spota points to the suspects arrested in a heroin trafficking ring at a press conference Wednesday.
A collaboration between police forces has broken up a massive heroin ring that ferried a “pure, strong and very sought-after” brand of the drug to Riverhead from East Harlem, authorities said.
Nine men, including four from Riverhead and one from Calverton, were arrested for their roles in the ring after an investigation by the East End Drug Task Force that lasted over a year, District Attorney Thomas Spota said. (more…)
Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota. (File photo by Jennifer Gustavson)
Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota is expected to announce details tomorrow about an East End Drug Task Force bust involving five Riverhead men dealing heroin stamped with the word “Hollywood,” according to a press release.
CYNDI MURRAY PHOTOS | Adam Huhn, left, and Britni Jade Zielinski entering Southold Town Justice Court on Monday. The couple was arrested Sunday on drug charges.
A Mattituck couple has pleaded not guilty to drug charges following their arrest during a police raid at their Wavecrest Avenue home.
Adam Huhn, 36, and Britni Jade Zielinski, 28, were found in possession of methamphetamine, marijuana, scales and packaging materials about 5 p.m. Sunday night after an investigation by Southampton Town police, Southold Town police and investigators from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s East End Drug Task Force, officials said.
At the couple’s arraignment in Southold Town Justice Court Monday, prosecutors said Mr. Huhn had no prior criminal history, but Ms. Zielinski had been arrested in 2009 on drug and grand larceny charges in Florida.
They were each charged with two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance and two counts of criminal use of drug paraphernalia, all felonies, as well as one count each of unlawful possession of marijuana, a violation, police said.
Mr. Huhn was held on $5,000 cash bail and Ms. Zielinski was held on $25,000 cash bail .
PAUL SQUIRE PHOTO | Riverhead police detectives outside the Koppert Cress greenhouse on Horton Avenue Tuesday afternoon.
UPDATE (Dec. 4, 2014): Charges of unlawfully growing cannabis against Anton Van De Wetering, 45, of Laurel will be dismissed so long as Mr. Van De Wetering does not get arrested for six months.
Original Story: A Laurel man was busted for growing marijuana at a Riverhead greenhouse Tuesday afternoon after Riverhead Town police and the East End Drug Task Force found more than 50 marijuana plants on the property, according to a Riverhead police statement.
Police searched the Koppert Cress greenhouse on the corner of Sound Avenue and Horton Avenue with a warrant and discovered 57 plants, as well as a box truck used to transport the plants, according to the statement. Some of the plants were discovered on the property, while others were found in the truck, police said.
All of the plants were in a “grown phase” and had not yet been harvested, police said.
Anton Van De Wetering, 43, of Laurel was arrested and charged with two counts of Unlicensed Growing of Canabis, a class “A” misdemeanor, according to the statement. Police said additional charges will be filed once the marijuana plants are analyzed and weighed by the Suffolk County Crime Lab.
Mr. Van de Wetering is the son of 82-year-old Peter Van de Wetering, who founded Van de Wetering Greenhouses in 1958. The greenhouses have produced the tulips that line Park Avenue for years, and the company was featured in an April New York Times article.
The younger Van de Wetering, who was the longtime manager of Van de Wetering Greenhouses, is “no longer affiliated in any way with Van de Wetering Greenhouses,” said a company representative.
Anton Van de Wetering left the company over a year ago, the spokesman said.
While at the scene Tuesday afternoon, police Lt. David Lessard said authorities believed contraband was “brought onto the property.” Police later said the East End Drug Task Force received a tip from a confidential informant about the marijuana.
A man who answered the phone listed for the Koppert Cress company said he had “no idea what was going on” at the Sound Avenue greenhouse. Koppert Cress bought the property searched by police from the Talmage family in 2012.
The East End Drug Task Force is headed by the district attorney’s office and comprises law enforcement personnel from across the county’s five East End towns.
A Suffolk County police helicopter was called in to assist during the investigation and Riverhead police were seen walking through the parking lot of the greenhouse, with some patrol cars leaving and returning to the scene.