Federal and city authorities last week rounded up 12 members and associates of a borough sect of the Bloods street gang, including a city Department of Correction officer, on narcotics trafficking charges, according to Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Kelly Currie.
As charged in the criminal complaint, between November 2014 and June 2015, the crew—a sect of the Bloods called the Paper Chasing Goons or POV City—allegedly conspired to distribute more than a kilogram of heroin to customers throughout Queens and elsewhere.
The crew used a network of distributors, some of whom are also members of PCG/POV City, to sell hundreds of glassines of heroin, marked with labels including “Sweet Dreams,” “First Take,” “Pepsi,” and “Coca Cola.”
During the investigation, law enforcement intercepted numerous telephone communications which revealed that crew bosses sent samples of heroin to their distributors to test for quality, and supplied the members of their crew, as well as other drug traffickers, with heroin on a daily basis.
As part of the investigation, search warrants were executed at borough stash houses in Jamaica and South Jamaica, Currie said. The gang used these locations to store narcotics and the proceeds of drug sales.
Covel Duncan, 30, a Rikers Island Correction officer was nabbed at one of the stash spots, and separately charged with possessing heroin with the intent to distribute.
“This investigation is an example of multiple law enforcement agencies working together toward a common objective, which is to protect our communities from individuals who would compromise the safety and well-being of our neighborhoods through the trafficking of illegal narcotics,” said city Police Commissioner Bill Bratton. “I would like to thank the NYPD Gang Squad Queens and our many law enforcement partners whose work in this investigation resulted in the charges and arrests of these alleged gang members.”
If convicted, the defendants, excluding Duncan, each face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a $10 million fine. Duncan faces up to 20 years in prison.
By Michael V. Cusenza
michael@theforumnewsgroup.com
