16 THE QUEENS COURIER • APRIL 11, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Schumer seeks crackdown on fentanyl smuggling at JFK
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
John F. Kennedy International Airport
is a conduit for Chinese traffi cker’s opioid
pipeline, according to Senator Charles
Schumer, who’s calling on the federal government
to crack down on illegal shipments
of fentanyl into the United States.
Specifi cally, Schumer is pushing a plan
for federal investment to beef-up security
at the JFK mail facility and other points
of entry for the fl ow of synthetic opioids.
“As the biggest international mail processing
facility in the nation, JFK should
be New York’s fentanyl fi rewall and fi lter
out illicit fentanyl and other opioids
at our local post offi ces. We need to both
beef it up and make sure it has the realtime
tools to meet everyday demands,”
Schumer said. “We know China’s opioid
assembly line to New York and Long
Island starts at JFK, but it can end there,
too, and that is what tough sanctions
accompanied by new fed funds can help
us deliver: a wrench to China’s opioid supply
chain.”
Retiring Queens District Attorney
Richard Brown called fentanyl the deadliest
drug in America during his year end
message to borough residents in January.
He described it as an opioid painkiller
which is 30 to 50 times more potent
than heroin, and preliminary numbers
had shown that of 229 cases of suspected
fatal drug overdoses reported in Queens
County in 2018, nearly a third of the cases
involved fentanyl.
Schumer announced he would add a
New York-specifi c request to his bipartisan,
national plan for critical detection
and infrastructure upgrades at JFK international
mail facility and he explained
the president’s just-proposed budget sets
aside $16 million nationally for these
kinds of upgrades. Th ere were 1,441 unintentional
drug overdose deaths in New
York City in 2017, which was a 53 percent
increase from 2015, according to the city’s
Department of Health, and fentanyl was
involved in 44 percent of all fatal overdoses
in 2016.
Th is data suggests that more New
Yorkers die of drug overdoses than homicides,
suicides and motor vehicle crashes
combined. Th e Senator said the numbers
are proof positive of how critical it is to
tackle fentanyl as its origin point of China.
“I am pushing for at least $5 million in
specifi cally targeted fed dollars for JFK’s
mail processing facility which is about
30 percent of what the president has allocated
nationally in his proposed budget,”
Schumer said. “However, I will try to get
even more than this as the appropriations
process plays out, because JFK’s facility
needs continuous upgrades to keep pace
with the fast-changing methods by traffi
ckers. We need more canines, staff , new
infrastructure to the processing facility,
and state-of-the-art detection equipment
to fully disrupt the opioid supply chain.”
Schumer added the funds would
increase and upgrade detection equipment
at JFK, including hand-held devices
and other X-ray technology that identifi
es opioids well-packed and disguised
to look like everyday packages, like new
shoes. Schumer’s bipartisan plan would
also establish a Commission on Synthetic
Opioid Traffi cking to monitor U.S. eff orts
and report on how to more eff ectively
combat the fl ow of synthetic opioids from
China, Mexico and elsewhere.
Rockaway man & girlfriend cuff ed for murdering estranged wife
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
rpozarycki@qns.com
@robbpoz
A Rockaway man and his girlfriend
face second-degree murder charges for
allegedly the man’s wife, whose charred
remains were found in a Staten Island
storage facility last week.
Michael Cammarata, 42, and Ayisha
Egea, 41, of Beach 56th Place in
Arverne, were charged on April 5 with
second-degree murder, concealment of
a human corpse and tampering with
physical evidence in connection with
the death of Jeanine Cammarata, 37, of
Staten Island.
Th e victim was Michael Cammarata’s
estranged wife. Th e pair had reportedly
been in the middle of a divorce and a
custody battle over their children. Jeanine
was last seen alive on March 31 in Queens;
she had told relatives that she was going to
visit her children at Michael’s home.
According to the Staten Island Advance,
Jeanine disappeared just two days aft er
serving her estranged husband with
divorce papers.
Michael Cammarata had been arrested
initially on April 3 aft er admitting to
police that he had previously assaulted
his estranged wife, WABC-TV reported.
Th ose charges were upgraded to murder
on April 5 aft er the Medical Examiner’s
offi ce identifi ed the remains as that of
Jeanine Cammarata.
“Th e investigation into the disappearance
of Jeanine Cammarata is now offi -
cially a murder investigation,” NYPD
Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea tweeted
on Friday. “Working closely with @
StatenIslandDA, we have arrested Michael
Cammarata & Ayisha Egea, both charged
with Murder 2°.”
Members of the 120th Precinct
Detective Squad launched an investigation
on April 2 aft er it was reported that
Jeanine Cammarata never made it to
work at the Staten Island public school
where she taught.
As the investigation unfolded, it was
reported, police learned of and recovered
video footage of Michael Cammarata and
an unknown accomplice allegedly hauling
a large bag from Queens to the Staten
Island storage facility.
On April 4, offi cers searched the facility
and found the charred remains, later
determined to be Jeanine Cammarata, in
a storage room, the Staten Island Advance
reported.
Th e Cammarata children, meanwhile,
have been placed in protective custody,
according to published reports.
Law enforcement offi cials said on
Th ursday that the Richmond County
(Staten Island) District Attorney’s offi ce
will be prosecuting the case through
an agreement reached with the Queens
District Attorney’s offi ce.
Photo courtesy of Shira Stoll/Staten Island Advance, with inset courtesy of NYPD
Courtesy of Schmer’s offi ce
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