SYRACUSE, NY (WRVO) - A two-year long investigation by New York State Attorney General Letitia James and 13 police agencies came to a head this week. As a result, 78 individuals were indicted for 355 crimes across central New York related to local drug trafficking.
This comes as opioid overdoses and gun violence surge across the state.
“Over the past year, this community has experienced record high levels of violence–from the shooting of a 3– and a 7–year old to the random shootings that have plagued our streets,” said James while in Syracuse to announce the takedown of two central New York drug rings.
James said that throughout Operation Raw Materials, they seized roughly 32 kilograms of cocaine, 117 grams of heroine which was mixed with fentanyl, 15 firearms and roughly $490,000–adding up to about $2 million value.
“So this is a message to anyone who wants to engage in illegal trafficking of drugs or guns: I'm not going to stop,” she said. “And if you continue to engage in and sell this poison, my law enforcement, detectives, and my partners and law enforcement, we will come after you.”
She was joined by several local leaders including Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon, Syracuse Police Chief Kenton Buckner and Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh–who says that he’ll continue fighting for safer streets in central New York.
“The message must be crystal clear that if you are terrorizing our neighborhoods with illegal guns, if you are poisoning our children and our families with illegal drugs, we will track you down and we will bring you to justice,” said Walsh.