Buffalo area drug smuggling ring busted
Updated: Wednesday, 17 Jun 2009, 11:36 AM EDT
Published : Wednesday, 17 Jun 2009, 11:15 AM EDT

BUFFALO, N.Y. Press release - Acting United States Attorney Kathleen M. Mehltretter and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Special Agent in Charge Lev Kubiak jointly announce the arrest of 17 Buffalo area residents and two defendants in New York City and one in Chicago involved in an international ecstasy trafficking organization. Those individuals arrested are on the attached list.

Those arrested are charged in a 24-count federal indictment with various violations, including conspiracy to smuggle ecstacy into the United States and conspiracy to distribute ecstacy, methamphetamine and benzylpiperazine, some of which charges carry a maximum possible sentence of 40 years in prison, a fine of $2,000,000 or both.

Acting U.S. Attorney Mehltretter stated that the arrests today disrupted a large distribution network involving the transportation of these illegal substances into the United States from Canada. Mehltretter lauded the cooperative effort of law enforcement, and in particular, ICE Office of Investigations, under the direction of ICE SAC Kubiak. Assistance also was provided by members of the ICE-led Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST), which is comprised of U.S. federal, state local, and Canadian law enforcement agencies partnering to combat cross border crime.

“Today's arrests show clearly how the intensive efforts of ICE, with the cooperation of other federal, state and local law enforcement, can bring to justice a criminal network responsible for smuggling illegal drugs into the United States," said Lev Kubiak, Special Agent in Charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Buffalo. "The organization targeted in this investigation was reaping profits by bringing these dangerous drugs into the country and distributing them in our community. ICE and our partner federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies are dedicated to targeting and dismantling criminal organizations that endanger public safety on each side of the U.S. and Canadian border."

In connection with the arrests, authorities executed 10 search warrants at various locations throughout the City of Buffalo, Cheektowaga, Tonawanda and West Seneca, which resulted in the seizure of various evidence and contraband. Acting U.S. Attorney Mehltretter and SAC Kubiak also would like to recognize the efforts of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Resident Agent in Charge Charles Tomaszewski, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under the direction of Dave DeJoe, U.S. Customs and Border Protection under the direction of Border Patrol Chief Kevin Oaks and Director of Field Operations James Engleman, the New York State Police/CNET, under the direction of Major John J. McCabe, State Police/Special Investigations Unit, under the direction of Major Matthew S. Renneman, the Erie County Sheriff’s Department (SWAT) under the direction of Sheriff Tim Howard, the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner H. McCarthy Gipson, and the Southern Tier Drug Task Force, all of whom participated in the investigation, arrests and search warrant executions. Ms. Mehltretter and SAC Kubiak also noted that without the efforts of the dedicated men and women in these agencies, the operation would not have been possible.

The Investigation was supported by the Department of Justices’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program, and is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Mary C. Baumgarten.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

JOSEPH ABBEY - 64 Preston Avenue, Cheektowaga, New York

BRIANNE AGUINAGA - 118 Center Road, Tonawanda, New York

VIVIAN JAMES a/k/a "JAMES" - 240 Stockbridge Avenue, Upper, Buffalo, New York

CHARLES MENSAH - 704 Rockaway Parkway, Apt. 1, Brooklyn, New York

DERICK ADJEI - 1217 South Keeler Avenue, Chicago, Illinois

DEBORAH AGUINAGA -503 Walck Road, North Tonawanda, New York

DAVID BLACKWELL - 25 Downing Street, Lower, Buffalo, New York

JAMES T. DAVIS a/k/a "MIKE" a/k/a "DALE" - 922 Walden Avenue, A2, Buffalo, New York

PAULA DEFAZIO - 35 Slate Creek Drive, Apt. 8, Buffalo, New York

JIMMIE L. FORD a/k/a "KIKI" - 1620 Center Road, West Seneca, New York

DRACEY D. GATES a/k/a "KEVIN" - 557 Potomac Avenue, Apt. 3, Buffalo, New York

FELIX LAWSON a/k/a "KOBE" - 1176 Walton Avenue, Apt. 2B, Bronx, New York

DARRYL ROBINSON a/k/a "KEITH" - 111 Davidson Avenue, Buffalo, New York

JODI TIRADO - 22 Clinton Street, Tonawanda, New York

JULIAN RUSSELL - 18 Harriet Avenue, Buffalo, New York

TAMARA WARD - 108 Weber Avenue, Upper, Buffalo, New York

PAUL G. WARNER - 491 Dodge Street, Apt. 2, Buffalo, New York

ROBERT WESLEY a/k/a "WES" - 1029 Walden Avenue, Buffalo, New York

SHAMIKA T. WILLIAMS a/k/a "MIKA" - 136 Grey Street, Upper, Buffalo, New York

http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/local/Buff ... d_20090617

DOUGLAS HUNT a/k/a "ROME" - 33 Sierra Drive, Cheektowaga, New York

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