18 THE QUEENS COURIER • APRIL 19, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Cops recognized for Flushing gun and drug busts
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
Seven offi cers received accolades for
their roles in two signifi cant drug and gun
busts in Flushing last month.
Inspector Judith Harrison, commanding
offi cer of the 109th Precinct, distributed
the Cop of the Month Awards
at the Community Council meeting on
April 11.
Sergeant Ling Ma and Police Offi cers
Joseph Knight and Andrzej Maziarz
received the fi rst round of recognition.
On March 13 at around 2:20 p.m., the
offi cers were on plain-clothes street patrol
in an unmarked car when they observed
a drug transaction at 146th Street and
58th Avenue, in close proximity to a local
school, Harrison noted.
When the offi cers approached the individuals
and identifi ed themselves, the
group of suspects tried to fl ee the scene.
Some were apprehended at the scene,
while others fl ed to a nearby residence.
Offi cers then obtained and executed
a search warrant at the Flushing home,
where they recovered 195 pounds of marijuana
— worth an estimated street value
of $500,000 — 19 bags of the painkiller
ketamine, a machine used to print forged
identifi cation cards and over $19,000 in
cash.
Six total suspects were placed under
arrest and face drug and forgery charges.
“It was a signifi cant arrest, and it wasn’t
as a result of a 911 radio call,” Harrison
said. “It was just them being out there
serving the community, being at the right
place at the right time, and being observant,
diligent and committed to the quality
of life for Flushing residents.”
Less than two weeks later, on March 25,
police received a call of shots fi red outside
of a residence on Mulberry Avenue.
Offi cers David Perez, Rory Heron,
Wilkania Columna and Sergeant Frank
Mosca responded to the scene.
“Th e offi cers got there, they looked
around, and they didn’t see any evidence
of any shots fi red,” the commanding offi -
cer said.
But the investigation didn’t end there,
Harrison continued. Upon further
inspection, the offi cers knocked on the
door at the site and were able to gain
access to the residence.
“When they went inside, they smelled a
strong smell of gun powder. So the shots
that were supposedly fi red outside were
fi red inside,” she said.
Police discovered the 911 caller, who
was allegedly under the infl uence of alcohol
and prescription drugs, was the one
fi ring the shots. Further, they observed
a large cache of illegal weapons, including
handguns, shotgun, rifl es and assault
rifl es.
Offi cers seized the weapons and placed
the Flushing resident under arrest.
“Th e seizure is signifi cant, but for me
what’s important is the fi rearms control
that they maintained,” Harrison
said. “Sometimes things can happen really
quickly and you have to react really
quickly. But these offi cers were patient
under the direction of sergeant Mosca
and they were able to bring this to a successful
conclusion.”
Money, gun and sportscar seized in LIC condo drug bust
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com / @angelamatua
A major drug bust resulted in the arrest
of four Queens residents, including a
Long Island City man who stashed thousands
of dollars and a loaded gun in his
luxury condo he allegedly purchased with
drug money.
Dionne “Slay” Sharrow, Pablo “Cito”
Vallecillo, Antonio Lopez and Jason
Keating were arrested on April 11 aft er
a year-long investigation conducted by
the NYPD’s Narcotics Borough Queens
South Major Case.
According to Bridget G. Brennan, the
city’s Special Narcotics Prosecutor, the
four men allegedly supplied heroin, fentanyl,
cocaine and marijuana to drug distributors
in New York City and upstate New
York. Th e investigation was sparked by the
fatal overdoses of a 22-year-old Brooklyn
man in September 2016 and a 42-year-old
Kew Gardens man in May 2017.
Sharrow, the Long Island City resident,
had a drug stash house in Bath
Beach, Brooklyn, where drug deals were
conducted, police said. Th e drug dealers
referred to the house as the “Palace.”
Police conducted the investigation
from September 2017 through April 2018
when they discovered Sharrow was supplying
drugs to Vallecillo and Keating,
of Jamaica, and Lopez, of Howard Beach.
Th e men sold heroin, fentanyl and cocaine
to drug dealers in Brooklyn, Queens,
Ulster County and Orange County.
At about 8 p.m. on Tuesday, police saw
Vallecillo entering the Brooklyn location
with a backpack and conducted a search
where they found Sharrow and another
person inside. Th ey found 10 kilograms
of drugs in an oven and hidden compartments
in a couch, police said.
Th ey also found thousands of dollars
in cash, several pounds of marijuana, a
kilo press used to package narcotics and a
money counter. Vallecillo’s backpack also
contained cash.
On the same night, police conducted
a search on the Long Island City apartment
at 2-17 51st Ave. Inside they found
a loaded gun; approximately $59,000 in a
safe; backpacks and drawers; and a 2015
Lamborghini Huracán that belonged to
Sharrow in a garage next to the apartment
building.
Keating was arrested in his Jamaica
home at 100-29 205th St. where cops
found several pounds of marijuana and
cash. Lopez, who lives at 102-02 163rd
Dr. in Howard Beach, was arrested in his
home aft er cops found hundreds of glassine
envelopes of heroin, two loaded pistols
and a shotgun.
Th e men are facing second-degree conspiracy,
fi rst-degree criminal sale of a
controlled substance and other charges.
Th is is the second phase of the investigation
aft er police connected Vallecillo to the
head of a drug delivery service, Eduardo
Ansorena. Ansorena, who sold drugs at
the JFK Inn motel parking lot, sold drugs
to the two men who fatally overdosed in
Brooklyn and Kew Gardens. Police found
that he bought those drugs from Vallecillo.
“Th e escalating toll of overdose and
addiction has become unbearable to all
but the drug dealers and traffi ckers who
peddle death in $10 bags,” Brennan said.
“As this investigation demonstrates, drug
crimes are far from victimless and we will
be relentless in pursuing those who profi t
from destroying the lives of others.”
Photo via New Construction Manhattan
Cops found thousands in cash and a gun in the Long Island City apartment of a drug dealer.
Photo by Suzanne Monteverdi/THE COURIER
Inspector Harrison (center) and the Cop of the Month recipients
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