AG indicts drug ring, seven from Schenectady

ALBANY & SCHENECTADY — The suspects were recorded using the code words “The Miley Cyrus,” for cocaine, according to state Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman.

And so the law enforcement operation that came to a head Thursday after a year-long investigation was called “Wrecking Ball,” after a popular Miley Cyrus song.

On Thursday at the state Capitol, Schneiderman announced that “Operation Wrecking Ball” led to the indictment of 19 people on felony drug sale charges, including seven from Schenectady and 11 from Albany.

Laquan Wright, of Schenectady, is one of two people facing the most serious charge: operating as a major trafficker. Schneiderman said Wright faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison if he is convicted on that charge.

Scheiderman said Thursday’s indictment is the sixth package of arrests targeting upstate drug trafficking since April — operations that together have led to 265 arrests.

“My office is laser-focused on the growing epidemic of drugs and violence that’s surging across our state,” Schneiderman said. “Today’s arrests — and the 265 dealers we’ve taken off the streets in the last two months alone — send an unmistakable message that we won’t tolerate those who deal death and violence in our communities.”

According to Thursday’s indictment, those charged trafficked drugs between Brooklyn and the Capital Region, selling cocaine and other illegal substances in Albany, Schenectady and Rensselaer counties. Numerous search warrants were executed in Schenectady and in Brooklyn as part of the operation, Schneiderman’s office said. The attorney general’s Organized Crime Task Force led the investigation, working with Albany city police and state police.

Wright and the other person accused of major trafficking — Cedric James of Brooklyn — are accused of arranging for large quantities of cocaine to be transported between Brooklyn and the Capital Region.

Others from Schenectady face various felony drug sale or possession charges. Those arrested on lesser charges include: Clifford Jackson, Lewis Labshere, Octavius Mills (Ruecker), Summer Salgimbeni, Meghan Wilkinson and Frances Wright. Ages. Home addresses and arraignment information on the individuals wasn’t available Thursday.

The Albany residents who face sale or possession charges as a result of the operation include Joseph Berghela, Elijajuan Cancer, Derrick Carrington, Richard Chrise, Dennis Durham, Ladawn Harris, I’Quan Mayo, Deanna McCargo, Christopher Mozone, Nekie Ricks, and Traevon Shannon.

Those defendants face between nine and 24 years in prison, depending on the charges they face, according to Schneiderman. In announcing the arrests, neither Schneiderman nor acting Albany Police Chief Robert Sears would say if the drug activity was occurring in particular neighborhoods.

“This was a large-scale operation. They were selling drugs in a lot of different neighborhoods,” Schneiderman said.

During the operation, Schneiderman said authorities seized more than 3 pounds of bulk cocaine, with a potential street value of $147,000; 35 firearms, including automatic pistols and long guns; over $63,000 in cash; and “large quantities” of drug paraphernalia, including scales, packaging and cutting agents.

“Anyone who has the notion these are non-violent crimes, look at the volume of guns we seized,” Scheiderman said.

The attorney general said the arrests are part of an ongoing effort to stop the epidemic of heroin and other drugs coming into upstate communities — an epidemic that has led to an increase in overdose deaths, crime and other problems.

“Drug dealing and violence that comes with it has been catastrophic for our small cities and rural areas,” Schneiderman said.

He added that the arrests put a “serious dent” in Capital Region drug trafficking operations.

“We’ve still got a long ways to go, but we’re making progress,” he said.

Reach Gazette reporter Stephen Williams at 395-3086, [email protected] or @gazettesteve on Twitter.