Cocaine traffickers used U.S. mail to ship illegal drugs from Puerto Rico to Long Island, authorities say
Presser at Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney's office in Hauppague on Friday April 14, 2023. Credit: Tom Lambui/Tom Lambui
Two Nassau residents and six people from Suffolk have been charged in a drug-trafficking ring that allegedly used the U.S. Postal Service to ship cocaine parcels from Puerto Rico to Long Island for eventual sale on the streets of Suffolk County, authorities said.
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said in a statement on Tuesday that during the execution of “multiple” search warrants last month, law enforcement officers found a kilogram brick of cocaine “in a box beneath a child’s crib” inside the Westbury apartment of suspected ringleader Eleomar Perez-Serrano and co-conspirator Maria Nieves.
“These defendants allegedly used the United States Postal Service to ship numerous parcels containing cocaine from Puerto Rico to locations in both Suffolk County and Nassau County,” Tierney said in his statement.
The arrests were the result of a multiagency investigation that included the Suffolk County Police Narcotics Section, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, special agents from the U.S. Postal Service and the Narcotics Bureau at the Suffolk District Attorney’s Office, officials said.
According to investigators, between March 2022 and June, Perez-Serrano is alleged to have received “numerous parcels” believed to contain cocaine — each delivered “every few weeks.” Authorities said after a predecessor was killed in Puerto Rico in March, Perez-Serrano “allegedly assumed leadership” of the local operation — and “took on coordinating the shipment of cocaine parcels to Suffolk County and to his apartment building in Nassau County … ”
During the investigation Perez-Serrano and alleged co-conspirator Carlos Vazquez, 52, of Huntington, allegedly discussed earning a daily profit of “at least $2,000” from street sales of cocaine in Suffolk.
Authorities said two parcels of cocaine seized during the execution of search warrants on June 6 had the drugs concealed in pool float boxes.
Perez-Serrano, 33, was charged with 20 counts, including two counts of operating as a major drug trafficker.
Nieves, 28, was charged with 15 counts, including two counts of first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.
Islip Terrace attorney Robert Macedonio, who represents defendants Perez-Serrano and Nieves, said Perez-Serrano "is allegedly the ringleader on this and he denies all allegations.” The attorney added that Nieves “denies her role in anything, as well.”
“Neither of my clients have been arrested before,” he said. “There’s no prior arrests, no prior contact with law enforcement, and we look to vindicate them and have them exonerated in court.”
Also arrested and charged in connection with the case were: Brian Ruiz-Chaparro, 34, of Huntington Station; Linda Wahlen, 57, of Huntington Station; Lynn Chodkowski, 61, of Huntington; Omar Lopez-Perez, 38, of Huntington Station; Samuel Rodriguez, 54, of Bay Shore; and Vazquez.
Perez-Serrano was arraigned on Monday and ordered held on $1.5 million cash, $3 million bond or $15 million partially secured bond. He is due back in court on Aug. 16. Nieves is scheduled for arraignment on July 25. Wahlen, Ruiz-Chaparro, Chodkowski, Lopez-Perez and Rodriguez all also face arraignment on July 25. Vazquez is scheduled for arraignment on Aug. 2.
Perez-Serrano's attorney, Macedonio, said he reserved the right to make a bail application on behalf of his client. Nieves was given supervised release with a GPS monitoring device.
Vazquez's attorney, Danielle Coysh of Central Islip, said: "Mr. Vazquez maintains his innocence and we look forward to litigating this matter."
The attorneys for the other five defendants could not be immediately reached for comment.
John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
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