NYPD Cop, 4 Others Charged In Cocaine Trafficking Crackdown

NEW YORK CITY — A NYPD officer and four others are accused of participating in a drug trafficking organization with connections to New York City and the Dominican Republic, according to a federal indictment unsealed Monday.

Amaury Abreu, 34, a cop at the 113th Precinct in Queens, was arrested Monday after a probe that centered around large amounts of cocaine being smuggled through JFK Airport and sold in the city, authorities said.

The scheme unfolded from January 2016 to October 2020, said Seth D. DuCharme, acting United States Attorney for the eastern district of New York.

"By joining forces with his co-conspirators, Abreu has allegedly committed serious crimes, disgraced his NYPD badge and betrayed the public trust as well as fellow members of law enforcement who put their lives on the line to interdict drugs that endanger our communities,” DuCharme said in a statement.

Abreu, 34; Julio Bautista, 35; and Gustavo Valeria, 38, were arrested Monday and charged with conspiring to import and distribute cocaine.

A fourth defendant, 34-year-old Cesar Diaz-Bautista, was also arrested and charged with possession with the intent to distribute cocaine. Junior Ortiz, 29, was charged with cocaine importation conspiracy.

The indictment alleges the drug trafficking operation used drug couriers on international flights, packages in the mail and tractor trucks to import multiple kilograms of cocaine into the country.

Authorities have seized more than 350 kilograms of cocaine in connection to the operation, the release states.

Bautista and Valerio were high-ranking members of the organization and oversaw the distribution of cocaine in New York, and Abreu used his position as a NYPD officer to protect his co-conspirators and, on at least one occasion, distributed drugs himself, the indictment alleges.

A detention memo from a U.S. Attorney alleges Abreu also escorted drug couriers through customs and baggage claims at JFK Airport in Queens and used his connections to NYPD to find out if warrants had been issued for other members of the organization.

Each defendant faces between 10 years and life behind bars if convicted.

The investigation into the suspected drug trafficking operation was conducted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, New York Field Division of the FBI, HSI Office of Inspector General, the New York City Police Department’s Internal Affair Bureau and the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York.