Long Island mom, daughter arrested for dealing heroin on Long Island

FREEPORT, N.Y. (WABC) -- A mother and daughter from North Merrick, Long Island were arrested on drug charges together.

Denise Burke, 51, and Danielle Burke, 18, are accused of criminal sale and possession of heroin in Freeport. They were arrested Monday.

"This is what they call a drug den," a neighbor said.

A house that looks nothing like the others on Whittier Avenue in North Merrick.

It's a quiet, family block, except for there where neighbors, too afraid to show their faces on camera, say heroin has been a family affair for more than a decade.

The problem was proving it.

"I mean, we've tried calling the cops and letting them know, but they wanted to catch them red-handed," a neighbor said.

And that they did. Nassau County Police told Eyewitness News 51-year-old Denise Burke and her 18-year-old daughter were caught selling bags of heroin just Monday night in Freeport.

They were arraigned Tuesday. This, after cops say, they have been to this home more than 20 times for other problems.

"It's been a lot of complaints; things like domestics and other incidents have taken place, necessitated the police being present at that scene, to resolve issues," said Chief Kevin Smith, of the Nassau County Police Department.

Cops also say just a couple of years ago, Denise Burke was charged alongside her son for heroin possession after a car stop. Investigators say it's highly unusual for a parent to be charged with selling heroin alongside their child.

Neighbors told Eyewitness News that between the noise and comings and goings there, it's just unsafe and sad.

"Horrible, horrible, horrible. I mean, I'm a mother of a senior in high school, same age, and we go to the movies together, not selling drugs together," a neighbor said, "So it's bad, bad and sad."

Danielle Burke is being charged with four counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance and four counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, among other charges.

Denise Burke is being charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree.

Both defendants will be arraigned Tuesday.