“Enough Fentanyl To Kill Every Man, Woman, Child In Suffolk County”: 6 Charged In Massive Drug Bust: DA

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — Six men are facing major narcotics and weapons charges after a months-long investigation that dismantled a drug distribution network responsible for flooding Suffolk County with fentanyl, heroin and cocaine, District Attorney Ray Tierney said.

Tierney said Friday that the multi-agency probe led to the seizure of more than 14 kilograms of controlled substances — including 4.5 kilograms of fentanyl and about 10,000 fentanyl pills — along with several illegal firearms and large-capacity magazines.

The investigation, conducted between April and October 2025, was led by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s East End Drug Task Force in coordination with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s New York Drug Enforcement Task Force, the NYPD, and the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York.

Authorities said the defendants — identified as John Collado, 26, of West Islip; Anthony Dominguez, 33, of Bay Shore; Yergenis Paulino, 25, of West Babylon; Michael Torres, 26, of Wyandanch; Luiggi Peralta, 31, of the Bronx; and David Priest, 35, of Ronkonkoma — conspired to distribute large amounts of narcotics across Suffolk County.

Law enforcement executed court-authorized search warrants at homes and vehicles on Oct.30 in West Islip, Bay Shore, Wyandanch, Lindenhurst, and the Bronx.

According to the investigation, between April 2025 and October 2025, the agencies launched a probe into Collado, Peralta, Dominguez, Paulino and Priest, after investigators discovered that Collado was distributing large quantities of fentanyl and cocaine throughout Suffolk County, the DA said.

During that time, Collado, along with Peralta, Dominguez, and Priest, reportedly conspired together to distribute narcotics throughout Suffolk County, partially detected through 13 separate sales of narcotics to undercover officers, the DA said.

Undercover officers purchased a total of 7,441 fentanyl pills designed to look like oxycodone pills, appearing blue in color and containing an “m-30” marking, Tierney said. In addition, during the six-month investigation, undercover officers purchased a total of 2.8 kilograms of cocaine.; the purchased narcotics had a total street value of more than $245,000, the DA said.

The investigation revealed that Collado conducted sales to the undercover officers himself; Peralta or Dominguez reportedly sent Priest or Paulino, or at times, they themselves went to deliver the drugs to Collado, prior to Collado's scheduled meets with the undercover agent, the DA said.

On October 30, members of law enforcement concluded the investigation with the execution of court-ordered search warrants, including Collado's vehicle and home in West Islip, Dominguez’ vehicle and home in Bay Shore, Torres’ home in Wyandanch, Peralta's vehicle and homes in Lindenhurst and in the Bronx, the DA said.

At Collado’s residence, law enforcement recovered a loaded and operable Taurus 9mm handgun, as well as substances that field-tested positive, including one ounce of cocaine and one ounce of heroin, Tierney said.

At Torres' residence in Wyandanch, law enforcement ecovered substances that field tested positive as 3 kilograms of fentanyl, 5 kilograms of heroin, 1 kilogram of cocaine, about 2,000 fentanyl pills and a loaded and operable 9mm handgun, the DA said.

Torres was found sleeping with the handgun when police entered his bedroom, the DA said.

Recovered from Dominguez’ residence in Bay Shore were 7 high-capacity ammunition feeding devices — and about 600 grams of a substance that field-tested positive for cocaine was found in a scooter located in his back yard. In addition, a loaded an operable 9mm handgun was recovered in his Dodge Durango, Tierney said.

Recovered from Peralta's residences located in the Bronx and Lindenhurst were more than $10,000 in cash and a money counter.

In total, the following were recovered from the execution of the October 30 search warrants: Five kilograms of heroin; four kilograms of fentanyl; 1.8 kilograms of cocaine; about 2,000 fentanyl-based pills; two Taurus 9mm pistols; one Glock 43X pistol 9mm; one Mossberg .22 caliber rifle; one Mossberg 20-gauge shotgun; seven high-capacity magazines — includes 3 "drum" style magazines 50 round capacity— and one military style green ammunition can filled with ammunition.

According to Tierney, on October 31, the six were arraigned before District Court Judge Evan Tanenbaum and charged with the following:

Collado was charged with 12 counts of first-degree- criminal sale of a controlled substance, Class A-felonies; nine counts of first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, Class A-I felonies; three counts of second-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, Class A-II felonies; 16 counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, Class B felonies; four counts of third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, Class B felonies; two counts of fourth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, Class C felonies; one count of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, Class C violent felonies; and one count of second-degree conspiracy, the DA said.

Judge Tanenbaum ordered Collado held on $1.25 million cash, $2.5 million bond or $10 million partially secured bond during the pendency of the case, the DA said. Collado is due back in court on November 19 and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the top count, the DA said. He is being represented by Ramon Cabrera, who was not immediately available for comment.

Dominguez was charged with one count of first-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, a Class A-I felony; two counts of first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, Class A-I felonies; one count of second-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a Class A-II felony; one count of third-degreee criminal possession of a controlled substance, a Class B felony; one count of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon a Class C violent felony; one count of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a Class D violent felony; and one count of second-degree conspiracy, the DA said.

Judge Tanenbaum ordered Dominguez held on $1 million cash, $2 million bond or $10 million partially secured bond during the pendency of the case, the DA said. He is due back in court on November 19, and faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted of the top count, the DA said. He is being represented by Jonathan Manley, woho did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Paulino was charged with one count of first-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, a Class A-I felony; one count of first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a Class A-I felony; one count of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a Class B felony; and one count of second-degree conspiracy, the DA said.

Judge Tanenbaum ordered Paulino held on $750,000 cash, $1.5 million bond or $7.5 million partially secured bond during the pendency of the case, the DA said. Pauliono is due back in court on November 17 and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the top count, the DA said. He is being represented by Christopher Gioe, who did not immediately return a request for comment.

Torres was charged with one count of first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a Class A-I felony; one count of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a Class C felony; and ∙ one count of third-degree conspiracy, the DA said.

Judge Tanenbaum ordered Torres held on $750,000 cash, $1.5 million bond or $7.5 million partially secured bond during the pendency of the case, the DA said. Torres is due back in court on November 17 and faces up to 20 years to life in prison if convicted of the top count, the DA said. He is being represented by Larry Flowers, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Peralta was charged with one count of first-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, a Class A-I felony; one count of first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a Class A-I felony; two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, Class A-II felonies; two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, Class B felonies; and one count of second-degree conspiracy, the DA said.

Judge Tanenbaum ordered Peralta held on $750,000 cash, $1.5 million bond or $7.5 million partially secured bond during the pendency of the case, the DA said. Peralta is due back in court on November 17 and faces up to 20 years to life in prison if convicted of the top count, the DA said. He is being represented by the Legal Aid Society.

Priest was charged with one count of first-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, a Class A-I felony; one count of first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a Class A-I felony; one count of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, Class B felony; and one count of second-degree conspiracy, the DA said. Priest is being represented by Scott Zerner.

“My client maintains his innocence. We are reviewing the discovery as it is provided,” Zerner said.

Judge Tanenbaum ordered Priest remanded without bail; he due back in court on December 16, and faces up to 30 years to life in prison if convicted of the top count, the DA said.

"The defendants in this case allegedly ran a prolific drug distribution operation that flooded our neighborhoods with deadly fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine," said Tierney. "Every kilogram of fentanyl represents 500,000 potential overdose deaths. There was more than enough fentanyl here to kill every man, woman and child in Suffolk County."

"These charges once again highlight the strength of Suffolk County’s law enforcement partnerships," said Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon, Jr. "The East End Drug Task Force and all participating agencies worked tirelessly to bring down this operation responsible for distributing dangerous drugs in our communities. I commend every officer involved for their dedication and teamwork to get these criminals off our streets."

“This investigation exposed a narcotics network whose impact stretched from the Bronx to Suffolk County," said Suffolk County Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina. "Deadly substances like fentanyl and cocaine continue to threaten our communities, but today’s results demonstrate that coordinated law enforcement efforts save lives. Collaboration remains one of our most powerful tools in the fight against drug trafficking and I commend SCPD detectives, our law enforcement partners and Suffolk County District Attorney Tierney for this successful operation."