A 32-member crack cocaine-trafficking ring was brought down and 21 members hauled into a Manhattan courtroom on conspiracy and related charges Wednesday.
The Inwood drug gang made more than 100 sales of crack cocaine over a 16-month period and were caught through wiretaps and undercover sales, selling to undercover cops more than two dozen times, authorities charge.
The men worked in shifts so they could sell drugs round-the-clock in a three-block area around Vermilyea Avenue in the upper Manhattan neighborhood, according to prosecutors.
“These arrests shutter an alleged criminal organization that pumped narcotics into a quiet residential neighborhood 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said.
Brothers José Luperon, 44, and Omar Luperon, 42, were the alleged ringleaders, and face 25 years to life in prison.
All 21 in court pleaded not guilty. Justice Bonnie Wittner ordered the men held without bail. The 11 not present remain at large.
