Nine men and women are facing drug charges after a months –long investigation into heroin and oxycodone trafficking on Staten Island. Andrew Siff has more.
Authorities took down a series of opiate distribution operations on Staten Island early Wednesday morning, arresting and charging a dozen people.
Of them, nine face a variety of federal charges related to the distribution of heroin and oxycodone, while the rest face state charges.
The borough is in the throes of a heroin epidemic, prosecutors say, and law enforcement has stepped up efforts to both catch distributors and expand treatment for addicts.
Earlier this month, police charged five people with dealing drugs around Staten Island, including a school paraprofessional who was allegedly selling fentanyl on school grounds during her lunch break.
More than 100 people may have died on the island last year alone from drug overdoses, the prosecutor's office told the Staten Island Advance in January.
