Eight More Drug Dealers Arrested in Bed Stuy Undercover Operation - BrooklyNews Corp

Brooklyn DA Charles J. Hynes today announced the arrest of eight drug dealers who have been operating in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn and the arrest of four additional individuals found in possession of narcotics in the targeted locations.  This takedown brings to 26 the number of arrests made since July in the context of a joint long-term, multi-phase investigation conducted by the NYPD's Brooklyn North Narcotics Major Case Team and his office's Major Narcotics Investigations Bureau.

District Attorney Hynes said: "The circumstances of yesterday's arrests bring to light the continuing threat that such organized drug sale activity constitutes to the children of our neighborhoods," said District Attorney Hynes. "Where drug business is being conducted near our schools and day care centers, and our children are exposed to the weapons that enforce this trade inside their very homes, law enforcement must respond and such strong prosecutions must be built."

Police Commissioner Kelly said, "Once again, undercover police officers put their lives at risk to make these arrests possible and improve life for the law-abiding residents of Bed-Stuy. I want to commend them, the detectives of our Major Case unit and Brooklyn North Narcotics Borough, and DA Hynes and his outstanding team of prosecutors for bring these suspects to justice."

Taken into custody yesterday were Naquan Brown, Herbert Curtis, Zajuan Glaster, Desmond Jones, Dijon Martin, Jaquan Pinckney, Tyquan Steele, and Daquan Tyson, all targets of the ten-month investigation into crack and marijuana sales.  Search warrants were executed and narcotics seized at the following locations: 70A Linden Street, Apartment 3; the ground floor apartment of 753 Monroe Street; the basement and second floor apartments of 823 Madison Street; and the third floor apartment of 834 Madison Street.   At the 834 Madison Street apartment, detectives recovered not only marijuana, scales and packaging materials, but also a .40 caliber semiautomatic handgun with a magazine bearing ten rounds and additional ammunition.  The firearm and ammunition were found under the bed where an 11-month old child was sleeping; a 4-year old child and a 14-year old child were also inside the apartment.  Resident Laronda Hardy was charged with three counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child in addition to weapons and drug-related offenses.  Other individuals charged with drug possession as a result of the takedown include Messiah Hagler, Marcus Martin and Andrew Robinson.

In an earlier phase of the investigation, fourteen people were arrested in July for drug activity taking place in various Bedford-Stuyvesant locations, including the sale of drugs in close proximity to P.S. 144.  The drug sales that were the subject of yesterday's takedown included sales made near P.S. 309 and within 200 feet of Ace Headstart