Police bust alleged Queens family drug cartel
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The Queens district attorney and NYPD conducted an investigation which resulted in the arrest of 11 individuals, many of whom were related, who were part of a drug trafficking ring spanning three counties. Photo via Queens District Attorney
By Ryan Schwach
Eleven people were arranged on drug charges across three counties this week, including Queens, as part of a wild family business – peddling cocaine and fentanyl-laced heroin around the greater New York area.
Spanning Queens, Suffolk and Westchester, a drug ring which included several members of the same family was busted following a 15-month investigation by the Queens district attorney and the NYPD, resulting in the arrests and the seizure of thousands of dollars worth of cash, drugs and guns.
According to the Queens DA, the alleged ringleader of the crew, 50-year-old James “Pops” Andrews, of Brentwood Long Island, recruited his brothers, wife and girlfriend and supplied them with cocaine and fentanyl-laced heroin in an operation mainly based out of Jamaica's Major Mark Park.
His brothers, Taron “T-Black” Samuels and Dijon “D-Black” Andrews, assisted in the operation by working shifts at the park, supplying Marcus “TI” Kelly, who controlled the drug sales in the park, prosecutors said.
Rose Andrews, James Andrew's wife, allegedly assisted in the storage and packaging of the drugs inside their shared home in Brentwood, and his girlfriend did the same in their shared Rochdale Village apartment, according to the charges.
Another associate, Anton Johnson, also allegedly worked shifts in the park.
The drugs were allegedly supplied by Yemi Blair of Brentwood, and another co-defendant, Robert Luis Marte-Florencio, would often deliver heroin and fentanyl to Andrews, according to prosecutors.
The operation to crack down on the drug running crew began 15-months ago in August 2022 as a joint operation between the DA’s office and the NYPD Queens South Violent Crimes Squad called “On the Mark,” and was centered around the trafficking operation based at Major Mark Park.
Over the course of the investigation, 26 buys of heroin and cocaine took place between undercover NYPD officers and four of the defendants, totalling more than $4,000 in street value.
All of the heroin purchased during the undercover buys contained some amount of fentanyl, the DA says.
Police also wiretapped defendants and recorded conversations discussing the purchase, sale and possession of drugs and guns, as well as “various acts of violence perpetrated by one of the defendants” in order to protect their operation at the Jamaica park.
The United States Postal Inspection Service also intercepted packages with around eight kilograms worth of cocaine that were delivered to Blair across New York, including at a Queens daycare.
At the end of August, the NYPD made an arrest, taking Marte-Florencio into custody as he was allegedly on his way to deliver narcotics.
The investigation came to a head on Dec. 4 and 5, when law enforcement executed search warrants on seven residences and three vehicles around Queens, Suffolk and Yonkers resulting in the seizure of one and a half kilograms of heroin laced with fentanyl; more than 10,000 glassines of heroin; four kilograms of cocaine; and more than 250 vials containing crack cocaine; eight guns, including an assault weapon stashed in a hidden compartment in a storage shed; and $140,587 in cash.
An investigation into a family allegedly behind a drug trafficking ring based in Queens resulted in the seizure of guns, drugs and cash earlier this month. Photo via Queens District Attorney
At James and his girlfriend Jones’ Rochdale Village residences, they found more than 250 glassines of heroin, crack cocaine and cash.
At the residence belonging to Dijon Andrews and his girlfriend, Lashawn Leak in Jamaica, cops found a gun and several magazines and ammunition.
At Kelly’s Jamaica residence they found crack cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, and a 9mm pistol with over 200 rounds of ammunition and cash.
The defendants arraigned earlier this month also include 49-year old Taron Samuels of Rochdale Village, 61-year-old Anton Johnson of Jamaica and 59-year-old Juan Torres of Yonkers.
The 11 defendants were all arraigned at Queens Criminal Court on Dec. 6 and 7.
Andrews, the supposed ringleader, was arraigned on 61 counts, including operating as a major trafficker, conspiracy and various forms of possession. He faces 20 years to life in prison.
His wife and girlfriend face the same potential sentence with several counts of possession.
Dijon Andrews and Leak were charged jointly, and face up to 15 years in prison.
Blair, Kelly, Marte-Florencio, and Torres all face 20 years, Anton Johnson faces 15, and Samuels faces 9 years in prison.
“This type of ‘family business’ will simply not pay,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. “We will not relent in our efforts to dismantle trafficking rings and bring to justice those who put countless lives at risk by running open air drug markets.”
The family drug operation busted by the Queens District Attorney and NYPD operated mainly out of Major Mark Park in Jamaica. File photo by CaptJayRuffins/Wikimedia Commons
“Those who peddle poison are on notice,” she added. There is no higher priority for my office than to rid our communities of drugs and guns.”
The investigation was conducted by Detective Alexander Taveras of the New York Police Department’s Queens South Major Narcotics Unit, under the supervision of Lieutenant Eric Sonnenberg, Captain Charles Campisi and Inspector Donald Boller.
Postal Inspector Hamid Beltre of the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Yonkers Police Department and Suffolk County Police Departments also provided assistance in the investigation.
