Police bust New York heroin ring that allegedly hid drugs in cereal boxes

BROOKLYN (WABC) -- Authorities in New York City say they have dismantled a family-run heroin ring that hid the drugs in cereal boxes.

Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson, along with NYPD Commissioner William Bratton, announced Thursday that 25 defendants, including an aspiring drug counselor and a Midtown Community Court employee, have been variously charged in a 368-count indictment with conspiracy, sale and possession of a controlled substance and money laundering.

Thompson says the operation netted about $1.5 million last year, and that the ring supplied more than a dozen distributors that sold about 25,000 packs of heroin each month.

"There's a growing heroin epidemic in New York and other parts of the country that's taking the lives of many of our young people hooked on this deadly and highly-addictive drug," Thompson said. "We must deal with this quiet drug plague by going after those who peddle this poison in our communities."

The investigation was conducted using electronic, video and physical surveillance, and the indictment charges that between January 2015 and this month, the suspects conspired to possess and sell heroin in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Manhattan.

It is alleged that Josie Tavera, 25, of Williamsburg, was at the nexus of the distribution ring, and that several of his family members helped him flood the streets of Brooklyn and the rest of New York City with heroin sold under various brands including "Knockout," "Takeover," "Power Hour," "Killing Time," "Pure," "Gucci" and "Scorpion."

"The epidemic of heroin use continues to destroy the lives of countless individuals and their families," Bratton said. "As alleged, the persons responsible for this heroin trafficking ring operated a network comprised of family and associates to distribute this deadly drug. But thanks to the investigators of the Brooklyn North Gang Squad and the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, this criminal operation has been dismantled."

In addition to Tavera's family, two other key defendants were identified as 36-year-old Jason Collazo and 37-year-old Michael Mineo, both of Staten Island. Collazo, who works in the Midtown Manhattan Community Court as a community service supervisor, allegedly used the court's phone to coordinate heroin transactions, purchased heroin from Tavera, and distributed it to several individuals in Brooklyn and Staten Island, including Mineo, who has studied substance abuse at the College of Staten Island and has identified himself to police as a drug counselor.

Specifically, according to the investigation, much of the drug-related activity occurred in and around Tavera's Driggs Avenue apartment. Several people allegedly supplied Tavera with heroin, including his brother, Jose Taveras, and Jose Sosa. Tavera, in turn, supplied a number of individuals with a large quantity of heroin to be resold, including Collazo, Adam Almodovar and Pablo Soto, prosecutors said.

One of Tavera's biggest customers is alleged to be Collazo, who directed defendants Jonathan Cruz and Albert Alvarez, who acted as couriers, to pick up heroin from Tavera and bring it back to Collazo's Staten Island home. He in turn allegedly sold it to his largest Staten Island customer, Michael Mineo, who in turn allegedly sold it to his customers there.

In addition to receiving the heroin from his brother, Tavera's other family members are also accused of participating in the ring, including his sister, Sheila Taveras, a.k.a., Tavera, 26, of Jamaica, Queens, who allegedly packaged, delivered and distributed heroin; his cousin, Gustavo Taveras, 27, of Bushwick, Brooklyn, who allegedly supplied him with heroin as well as purchased heroin from him; another cousin, Christian Rodriguez, 24, of the Bronx, who allegedly supplied him with heroin; and Tavera's mother, Haydee Cordero, 46, of Williamsburg, who is accused of money laundering for allegedly depositing proceeds from heroin sales into her bank account to disguise the origin of the funds.