Eleven charged in major drug ring bust: Country's largest seizure of carfentanil, police said

Matt Spillane | Rockland/Westchester Journal News

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WESTCHESTER, N.Y. – Eleven people have been accused of taking part in a major drug ring that sent truckloads of carfentanil – a drug 100 times more potent than fentanyl – across the country, including $2.4 million worth of drugs that were seized in West Nyack, New York.

The operation used long-haul truckers to move carfentanil, heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, ketamine and tramadol throughout the United States, authorities.

The accusations were revealed in a press release this month from the Queens District Attorney's Office, which is leading the investigation.

Among those defendants is Alexis Victorero who police said was arrested in New York while driving a tractor-trailer full of fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, and oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl.

Officials said they seized 68 pounds of cocaine, 50 pounds of fentanyl, 11 pounds of carfentanil, eight pounds of heroin, various amounts of ketamine and tramadol, and six guns over the course of the investigation. It was the country's largest seizure of carfentanil, a synthetic opioid, they said.

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Giovanny Arias, 49, is accused of masterminding the operation. Officials said their investigation began with a New York resident who had been suspected of dealing drugs and guns.

Officials said they learned that the suspected dealer worked with Arias to sell drugs by having long-haul truck drivers take drugs from the southern border of California to New York City.

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