NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – A family drug ring spread across Queens, Suffolk County and Yonkers was dismantled and 11 defendants were arraigned on drug and gun charges Thursday following a 15-month investigation conducted across agencies, the Queens District Attorney’s Office announced.
After executing search warrants across seven residences and three cars owned by some of the 11 defendants on Dec. 4 and Dec. 5, police recovered one and a half kilograms of heroin laced with fentanyl; over 10,000 glassines of heroin; four kilograms of cocaine; over 250 vials of crack cocaine; eight guns, including a hidden assault weapon; and $140,587 in cash.
In August 2022, the Queens District Attorney’s Office and the NYPD’s Queens South Violent Crimes Squad began a joint investigation, dubbed “On the Mark,” into a drug trafficking operation at Major Mark Park in Jamaica, officials said.
The district attorney’s office broke down all the defendants and their roles in the drug trafficking ring:
• James “Pops” Andrews, the alleged boss of the crew, allegedly supplied everyone with heroin and cocaine and employed members of his family and an outside associate who are also charged as co-defendants.
• Taron “T-Black” Samuels and Dijon “D-Black” Andrews are Pops’ brothers, and their role was to allegedly work shifts at the park and supply the park’s main dealer while armed.
• Both Pops’ wife, Rose Andrews, and his girlfriend, Tanta Jones, allegedly helped store and pack drugs in their shared residence with Pops, Brentwood, Long Island and Rochdale Village, Queens, respectively.
• Anton Johnson is Pops’ associate and allegedly worked shifts in the park.
• Yemi Blair was allegedly Pops’ primary cocaine supplier, and an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service seized about eight kilograms of cocaine from packages delivered to Blair at locations across New York, including a Queens daycare and an apartment in New Rochelle
• Robert Luis Marte-Florencio allegedly delivered heroin and fentanyl to Pops, and he was arrested on Aug. 23 as he was allegedly on his way to deliver narcotics to Pops. Police recovered one kilogram of heroin, which had fentanyl.
• Marcus “TI” Kelly allegedly controlled drug sales in the park, most of which occurred early in the morning, and employed several workers.
Undercover cops conducted 26 buys of heroin and cocaine from four of the defendants, which resulted in a seizure of drugs worth $4,030, the district attorney’s office said.
All of the heroin contained fentanyl.
The investigation also utilized wiretaps, and multiple calls between defendants were recorded that discussed the purchase, sale and possession of drugs, possession and supply of firearms and different acts of violence one defendant utilized to protect the group’s place of “business.”
“Those who peddle poison are on notice. There is no higher priority for my office than to rid our communities of drugs and guns. This type of ‘family business’ will simply not pay. 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,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said.
Pops was arraigned on a 61-count indictment and faces 20 years to life in prison.
The other defendants face from 15 to 20 years in prison, except Samuels, who faces nine.