Washington Square Park Drug Investigation Takes Down Major Opioid Ring, Prosecutors Say

WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK, NY — An investigation into drug deals carried out around Washington Park grew into a wide-ranging probe that took down a major opioid drug ring, prosecutors said Friday.

Authorities arrested three men involved in a chain that sold heroin, cocaine and fentanyl – an opioid said to be 50 times more potent than heroin – in Manhattan and the Bronx, they said. The busts followed a low level review of drug dealing that started after community complaints and a report of gunshots last year.

The review grew to include NYPD narcotics officers going undercover to purchase drugs and court-authorized wire tapping, prosecutors said in a statement Friday. During the undercover operation, which launched in September, the dealers sold $20,000 worth of drugs to undercover NYPD officers in 15 different sales, authorities said.

John Milia, Anthony Dixon and Martin Molina were all arrested on Wednesday, prosecutors said.

The arrests come as the country suffers an epidemic of opioid abuse. In New York City last year, an estimated 1,300 New Yorkers were killed by drug overdoses, the majority involving an opioid, according to city data.

Milia sold drugs to undercover officers near the park and near three neighboring schools, prosecutors said. Police identified Dixon as Milia's supplier.

Dixon is also accused of selling drugs to undercover officers near the park and on the Upper East Side, including near multiple schools.

Patch was not immediately able to contact the men's attorneys because not all had been arraigned as of Friday afternoon. (For more new from Greenwich Village, subscribe to Patch news alerts here.)

Lead image via courtesy of David Shankbone.