50,000 doses seized in Freeport heroin bust

Posted

Updated March 28, 2019 at 3:37 p.m.

Fourteen suspects, including Darrell “Fab” Boyd and his nephew Jason Costa, both of Freeport, were arrested and have been indicted on a number of drug trafficking charges. Over the course of several months, a total of a kilogram of heroin — roughly 50,000 doses — 192 grams of cocaine, 22 pounds of marijuana, one firearm and $220,000 in cash, were seized in Freeport.
A 60-year-old Freeport man overdosed on heroin purchased from the trafficking ring, according to authorities.
Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas said that two of the 14 defendants face 25 years to life in prison if convicted on their top charges, and three suspects have not yet been arrested. Charges also include operating as a major trafficker, first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and fourth-degree conspiracy.
Nassau County police and the FBI Long Island Gang Task Force began investigating Boyd and Costa last March, documents show. Boyd allegedly operated as a mid-level drug dealer from his North Columbus Avenue home in Freeport, where he sold heroin on a daily basis, according to officials. Costa and a third, unidentified person helped him. Costa allegedly sold to customers when Boyd was not available, while the third person bagged heroin into glassine envelopes.

When not operating out of his home, Boyd allegedly sold drugs through his job as a janitor at the Cerebral Palsy Association of Nassau County. According to Singas, Boyd met his customers in the back of the CPANC facility to sell them narcotics.
Boyd and Costa also sold heroin and cocaine to a network of small drug dealers throughout the county, Singas said. Boyd’s smaller drug dealer clients allegedly included Joey Bell, Darrell Wilson and Darren Bruce, who bought heroin for resale rather than personal use, based on the quantities they were buying from Boyd, officials said.
Other defendants — Tony McClam, Leonard Forbes and Christopher Thomas — were identified by authorities as Boyd’s drug suppliers. Boyd allegedly received drugs from his suppliers on a consignment system and repaid the dealers after he sold the drugs. Boyd, according to officials, was struggling to pay his debts to his suppliers.
McClam, of Roosevelt, was one of Boyd’s largest suppliers, and allegedly had large amounts of narcotics shipped to New York from Orange County, Calif. On Feb. 25, about 1,200 grams of heroin, 19 pounds of marijuana and $890 in cash were seized at McClam’s house in Roosevelt. Some of the heroin was found inside a homemade candle.
More than $215,000 was seized from McClam’s bank accounts. He allegedly was working with a supplier to transport $300,000 worth of cocaine. He also used U.S. Postal Service to send $9,000 in cash suspected to be a payment for narcotics to his California suppliers. McClam used a Nassau County senior prosecutor’s name on the envelopes, believing that legal mail is subject to legal privileges and could not be opened by law enforcement, Signas said.
According to Singas, Powell also taught his girlfriend, Veronica Bethea, of Roosevelt, how to measure and sell crack cocaine. Bethea sent Powell pictures of the drugs that she was measuring to ensure that she was doing it correctly.
“Over the past six years, the Freeport Police Department has seen a significant decrease in crime,” Detective Sgt. Donnie Ethier said. “This successful multi-jurisdictional collaboration is one of the tools used to accomplish our crime- reduction mission.”
“Thanks to the teamwork of the FBI Long Island Gang Task Force,” Singas said, “we’ve removed 50,000 doses of heroin from our streets, and we are committed to ending this epidemic with every tool at our disposal.”

The investigation is continuing.