A Riverhead school employee was arrested following a raid at the school’s bus garage last week as part a drug bust targeting various East End locations.
Tag: East End Drugs Task Force
A Flanders man who was previously charged in an East End Drug Task Force raid and recently released from jail on a separate weapons possession charge has been arrested again — this time on felony drug and weapons charges. READ
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A pair of East End Drug Task Force raids carried out across Riverhead just one minute apart this morning netted six arrests for felony drugs offenses, Riverhead court officials and town police confirmed.
All six defendants — five of whom were arrested in the same apartment — were held on bail, authorities said.
At 6:17 a.m., authorities with the East End Drug Task Force executed a search warrant at 641 Doctors Path, Riverhead police said. Five people, including two locals, were arrested:
• Ebony Booker, 24, of Riverhead;
• Eric Ross, 22, of Flanders;
• Kotara Jackson, 32, of Mastic;
• Tashara Horsely, 19, of Mastic Beach;
• Marquis Miles, 21, who gave a North Carolina address.
All five people were charged with felonies for criminal possession of cocaine and arraigned in court Friday, a Riverhead Town court clerk said. Additionally, Mr. Ross was charged with misdemeanor drugs possession.
Ms. Jackson was remanded to jail without bail, according to the court. Bail for Ms. Horsely, Mr. Ross and Mr. Miles was set at $25,000. Ms. Booker was held on $5,000 bail.
One minute after the initial raid, at 6:18 a.m., police conducted a second search warrant sting at 415 Union Avenue, where Tywan Jones, 35, of Riverhead was arrested. He was charged with felony cocaine and weapons possession, a court clerk said.
He was held on $5,000 bail, the clerk said. All six defendants are due back in court on Monday.
Friday morning’s raid came two days after state and local police swarmed a house on Lewis Street, arresting three people, including one Riverhead man.
A Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment Friday afternoon.
A 34-year-old Riverhead woman was arrested on felony drug charges Monday following an investigation by the East End Drug Task Force, police said.
PAUL SQUIRE PHOTO | Riverhead police detectives outside the Koppert Cress greenhouse on Horton Avenue Tuesday afternoon.
A Laurel man was busted for growing marijuana at a Riverhead greenhouse Tuesday afternoon after Riverhead Town police and the East End Drug Task Force found more than 50 marijuana plants on the property, according to a Riverhead police statement.
Police searched the Koppert Cress greenhouse on the corner of Sound Avenue and Horton Avenue with a warrant and discovered 57 plants, as well as a box truck used to transport the plants, according to the statement. Some of the plants were discovered on the property, while others were found in the truck, police said.
All of the plants were in a “grown phase” and had not yet been harvested, police said.
Anton Van De Wetering, 43, of Laurel was arrested and charged with two counts of Unlicensed Growing of Canabis, a class “A” misdemeanor, according to the statement. Police said additional charges will be filed once the marijuana plants are analyzed and weighed by the Suffolk County Crime Lab.
Mr. Van de Wetering is the son of 82-year-old Peter Van de Wetering, who founded Van de Wetering Greenhouses in 1958. The greenhouses have produced the tulips that line Park Avenue for years, and the company was featured in an April New York Times article.
The younger Van de Wetering, who was the longtime manager of Van de Wetering Greenhouses, is “no longer affiliated in any way with Van de Wetering Greenhouses,” said a company representative.
Anton Van de Wetering left the company over a year ago, the spokesman said.
While at the scene Tuesday afternoon, police Lt. David Lessard said authorities believed contraband was “brought onto the property.” Police later said the East End Drug Task Force received a tip from a confidential informant about the marijuana.
A man who answered the phone listed for the Koppert Cress company said he had “no idea what was going on” at the Sound Avenue greenhouse. Koppert Cress bought the property searched by police from the Talmage family in 2012.
The East End Drug Task Force is headed by the district attorney’s office and comprises law enforcement personnel from across the county’s five East End towns.
A Suffolk County police helicopter was called in to assist during the investigation and Riverhead police were seen walking through the parking lot of the greenhouse, with some patrol cars leaving and returning to the scene.
