DA: Heroin Dealers Indicted

Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota announced in a statement the indictments of a Holtsville couple, their alleged New York City heroin supplier and 11 other defendants on drug trafficking, conspiracy and other charges, Wednesday morning in Riverhead. 

The Brooklyn-to-Suffolk County heroin ring members were to appear at 10 a.m. for arraignment before State Supreme Court Justice William Condon.

“These defendants flooded Suffolk County with tens of thousands of bags of heroin they brought here from a Brooklyn dealer, Miguel Vicente, who would prepare kilos of the drug for street sales,” Spota said.  “In fact, Vicente, to encourage repeat business and dealer loyalty, would regularly overfill the bags."

Vicente and the Suffolk County ringleaders, Kelly Mullen, 29, and her husband, Aaron Smith, 57, were indicted last week. Mullen and Smith’s Holtsville home served as the main distribution point for heroin pickups by local drug dealers from Holbrook, Oakdale, Islip, Central Islip, Ronkonkoma, Shirley and Riverhead.

“As many as five dealers a day came to this house, where five to ten children live at any given time, to pick up their heroin,” Spota said. “When we arrived with a search warrant, there were bags of heroin scattered about, including heroin left next to the crib of Mullen and Smith’s daughter.”

Exhibits at the press conference Wednesday morning were to include tens of thousands of packets of heroin bearing the stamp “HIGH OCTANE,” five ounces of powder and crack cocaine, $37,000 in cash, a $40,000 wristwatch and other jewelry seized during the execution of court-authorized search warrants from the homes and cars of the suspects.

“There’s an important distinction setting apart these the main conspirators from most of their colleagues,” Spota said. “The suppliers, Vicente, Mullen and Smith don’t use heroin.  Their addiction is to greed, a craving they satisfied by destroying the lives of other people.”