UES Overdose Leads To Takedown Of Bronx Drug Ring: Prosecutors

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Thirteen members of a Bronx-based drug ring are facing charges following a takedown resulting from the investigation of an overdose death on the Upper East Side, New York's Special Narcotics Prosecutor announced Thursday.

Members of the drug ring were charged with conspiracy to sell narcotics as well as varying degrees of criminal sale and possession of a controlled substance, Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan announced.

Jose Jorge, also known as "Cataño," is also facing a reckless endangerment charge for selling the drugs that a 28-year-old man overdosed on in an Upper East Side diner in January 2018, prosecutors said. Jorge is accused of selling the man drugs through a friend named Christopher Wagner, who also died while law enforcement investigated the drug ring, officials said.

During the investigation, an undercover officer bought cocaine, heroin and fentanyl from Wagner through Jorge. After Wagner's death, Jorge made several direct drug sales to the undercover officer, prosecutors said.

Jorge told the undercover officer that fentanyl is "good for business" because its effects wear off faster and because an overdose will often spur drug users to seek out the strong product, prosecutors said.

Wagner's father, former police officer Edward Wagner, was also involved in the drug ring, prosecutors said. Edward Wagner acted as his son's driver during drug deals and eventually agreed to sell drugs directly to the undercover officer. The officer met Wagner seven times at his Upper EAst Side apartment on York Avenue between East 81st and 82nd streets for drug sales and also bought a ballistics vest, bullets, shotgun shells and a shotgun from the ex-NYPD officer, prosecutors said.

Through undercover sales and a wiretap investigation the NYPD were able to identify other members of the network including suppliers and other street-level drug dealers that operated in the Bronx and Manhattan, prosecutors said. During the investigation, and undercover officer bought a total of nearly $35,000 in drugs during 23 transactions.

"The conspiracy stretched from the South Bronx to the Upper East Side and involved widespread distribution of narcotics at a time when overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in New York City," Special Narcotics Prosecutor Brennan said in a statement. "One member of the organization openly acknowledged that the fentanyl-laced heroin he sold increased the risk of death, but nonetheless he viewed fentanyl as good for business."

Here's a complete list of people charged in connection with the drug ring, as provided by prosecutors:

• Jose "Cataño" Jorge, 46, of the Bronx;
• Jason Morales, 35, of the Bronx;
• Kaddier Herrans-Pagan, 36, of the Bronx;
• Wilfredo "Mamota" Rosario-Velez, 33, of the Bronx;
• Miguel "Domi" Santana, 55, of the Bronx;
• Jose Feliciano, 35, of the Bronx;
• Juan Ruiz, 31, of the Bronx;
• Angel "Bebo" Colon, 42, of Manhattan;
• Jorge Abad, 42, of Manhattan;
• Edward Wagner, 64, of Manhattan;
• Angel Ramirez, 27, of Manhattan;
• Rene Borrero, 54, of Manhattan;
• Andy Torres, 22, of Manhattan;