Crime & Safety

Heroin Ring Bust Nets 12 Locals

As a result, police arrested Yorktown, Cortlandt and Peekskill residents. Additional arrests are expected.

Following a four-month investigation into the distribution and sale of heroin in Northern Westchester, police busted 12 people from the Yorktown, Cortlandt and Peekskill area. 

Officers from the Department of Public Safety and local police departments dismantled the ring of drug dealers this week. Additional arrests are expected, officials said.

"The arrest of these suspects will significantly impact the flow of heroin in northern Westchester," Public Safety Commissioner George N. Longworth said in a statement on Thursday. 

The 12 men and women, who were arrested, were charged with third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance and third-degree possession of a controlled substance, felonies.

They include: 

  • Steven Santiago, 31, Peekskill; 
  • Dwayne Mountain, 26, Verplanck
  • Vicki Mountain, 55, Peekskill; 
  • Walter Oglesby, 58, Peekskill; 
  • Colin Rice, 24, Yorktown; 
  • Devin West, 25, Yorktown; 
  • Rod Bromberg, 21, Yorktown; 
  • Wanda Eastman, 49, Cortlandt Manor;
  • Christopher Eastman, 19, Cortlandt Manor; 
  • Jevon Ofield, 37, Peekskill; 
  • Lonnie Scott, 42, Peekskill; and 
  • Nicole McGuire, 30, Stormville.
Police used surveillance teams during the investigation to identify people who were selling heroin, officials said. Undercover officers were then able to make purchases of heroin from them.

Over the past year there have been more than 10 heroin-related overdose deaths in northern Westchester and Putnam counties.

"As soon as we started receiving intelligence that there was a large spike in heroin sales in the Cortlandt area, we formed a task force with Peekskill, Yorktown and Buchanan police to immediately combat this problem and prevent additional loss of life," Longworth said. 

Peekskill Police Chief Eric Johansen thanked all of the officers involved in the task force for their efforts in combating the illegal drug trade in northern Westchester.

"Narcotics offenders know no boundaries and those that engage in the sale and distribution of heroin and other illicit drugs will continue to be targeted in the City of Peekskill with all of our available resources," he said. 

County Executive Robert P. Astorino praised the police agencies involved for their joint effort to keep heroin and other illegal narcotics off the streets of northern Westchester.

"By collaborating and sharing resources, county and local police continue to have great success in protecting our communities from drug dealers," he said. 


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