By Forum Staff
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that 11 defendants were arraigned on drug and gun charges following a 15-month investigation into a sprawling drug trafficking organization that reached from Jamaica to suburban Suffolk and Westchester counties and involved several members of the same family. The investigation included a series of undercover drug buys inside a Jamaica park and wiretaps on defendants’ phones.
The investigation also featured search warrants executed at seven residences and three vehicles, resulting in the seizure of 1.5 kilograms of heroin laced with fentanyl; more than 10,000 glassine envelopes of heroin; four kilograms of cocaine; and more than 250 vials containing crack cocaine; eight guns, including an assault weapon stashed in a hidden compartment in a storage shed; and $140,587 in cash.
All 11 defendants—James Andrews, 50, of Brentwood; Rose Andrews, 60, of Brentwood; Tanta Jones, 41, of Rochdale Village; Dijon Andrews, 38, of Jamaica, and Lashawn Leak, 35, of Jamaica; Taron Samuels, 49, of Rochdale Village; Yemi Blair, 50, of Brentwood; Marcus Kelly, 46, of Jamaica; Robert Luis Marte-Florencio, 25, of the Bronx; Anton Johnson, 61, of Jamaica; and Juan Torres, 59, of Yonkers—were arraigned earlier this month.
According to the charges:
In August 2022, a joint investigation by the Queens District Attorney’s Office and the NYPD’s Queens South Violent Crimes Squad was launched into a drug trafficking operation centered on Major Mark Park on Hillside Avenue between 173rd and 175th streets.
A total of 26 buys of heroin and cocaine took place among undercover police officers and four of the defendants, resulting in the seizure of drugs with a street value of $4,030. All of the heroin contained some fentanyl.
During the course of the investigation, dubbed “On the Mark,” multiple communications among the defendants were recorded on wiretaps discussing the purchase, sale and possession of drugs, possession and supply of firearms and various acts of violence perpetrated by one of the defendants in order to protect their place of “business.”
James “Pops” Andrews supplied the crew with heroin and cocaine; employed members of his family and an associate who are charged as co-defendants:
- Samuels and Dijon Andrews – his brothers – assisted in the operation by working shifts at the park, supplying Kelly with drugs, and possessing at least one firearm.
- Rose Andrews – his wife – assisted in the storage and packaging of the drugs inside their shared home in Brentwood, L.I.
- Jones – Pops’ girlfriend – assisted in the storage and packaging of the drugs inside their shared apartment in Rochdale Village.
- Johnson – his associate – worked shifts in the park and sold drugs to undercover police officers.
- Blair served as the primary cocaine supplier for Andrews. An investigation by the United States Postal Inspection Service intercepted multiple packages of cocaine delivered to Blair at locations throughout New York including a daycare in Queens and an apartment in New Rochelle. Approximately eight kilograms of cocaine have been seized.
- Marte-Florencio would often deliver heroin and fentanyl to Andrews.
- On Aug. 23, NYPD detectives arrested Marte-Florencio outside of the Rochdale Village housing complex as he was allegedly on his way to deliver narcotics to Andrews. Approximately one kilogram of heroin mixed with fentanyl was recovered.
- Kelly, controlled the drug sales in the park, most of which took place during the early morning hours, and employed several workers who assisted him.
