Southeast Queens cop arrested for cocaine trafficking

Officer Amaury Abreu of the 113th Precinct was arrested for his alleged role in an international drug trafficking operation.He is charged in Brooklyn Federal Court. Photo by Rob Abruzzzesse

By David Brand

An NYPD officer assigned to the 113th Precinct in Southeast Queens was arrested Monday for allegedly assisting an international drug trafficking operation that distributed cocaine throughout New York City 

Officer Amaury Abreu, 34, was indicted in Brooklyn federal court along with three co-defendants for allegedly importing cocaine from Mexico and the Dominican Republic and dispensing it across the five boroughs. He was scheduled for arraignment Monday afternoon.

Federal prosecutors say Abreu described NYPD procedures to the other members of the operation, ran warrant checks for them and even sold cocaine on at least one occasion.

Phone records show that Abreu communicated with other members of the operation on an almost daily basis from 2018 until Nov. 3, according to the criminal complaint.

“By joining forces with his co-conspirators, Abreu has allegedly committed serious crimes, disgraced his NYPD badge and betrayed the public trust as well as fellow members of law enforcement who put their lives on the line to interdict drugs that endanger our communities,” said Acting United States Attorney Seth DuCharme.

Federal agents seized about 350 kilograms of cocaine from the operation since 2016, prosecutors said. 

Abreu was arrested at his home in Hauppauge, Long Island Monday morning.

The NYPD suspended him without pay, a department spokesperson said.

“There is no place for corruption in the NYPD and it will always be prosecuted fully,” said NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea.

He faces at least 10 years in prison if convicted.