Queens residents busted for massive heroin and cocaine smuggling ring

At least six Queens residents were a part of a major drug ring that spanned multiple states, according to Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas.

A total of 17 members of the narcotics ring were charged on Oct. 4 for trafficking drugs and supplying major dealers in at least five states. The investigation, which started in March 2016, found that three men started the drug distribution operation and the main ringleader was Lyonel Beaubrun, 41, from Rosedale.

Prosecutors said Beaubrun started the ring with Kevin Etienne, 36, of West Hempstead and another relative. The trio supplied cocaine and heroin to 14 members of the crew who would sell the drugs to major dealers.

They supplied dealers on Long Island, New York City, upstate New York, Chicago, Maine, Maryland and Virginia. The DA’s Special Operations and Narcotics Bureau discovered that the organization transported cocaine on commercial flights from Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, AZ, to John F. Kennedy Airport.

“Fourteen law enforcement agencies collaborated with my office’s dedicated investigators on this massive take down that has dismantled what we allege to be a multi-state, cross country drug trafficking enterprise that pumped huge quantities of cocaine and deadly heroin into our communities and throughout the northeast,” Singas said. “Our partners at the federal, state and local level worked together seamlessly to uncover the novel smuggling methods used in this ‘family business’ and to shut it down before more lives were ruined by the poison these defendants supplied.”

Many of the defendants are family members and live and work together in four locations in Queens and Nassau County where the drugs are stored. The drugs were then transported to associates for distribution in Nassau, Suffolk and Queens counties where members would make sales ranging from $50,000 to $75,000 per week.

As a result of search warrants executed on Wednesday, investigators seized five and a half kilograms of cocaine, four ounces of heroin, approximately $190,000 in cash, two defaced guns, money counters, kilogram presses, packaging equipment, a Porsche, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and a Richard Mille watch.

Investigators conducted three car stops in 2017, where they seized two kilograms of cocaine and more than $70,000. The stops were conducted on July 2 in Suffolk County, July 4 in Nassau County and Aug. 13 in Dorchester County, Maryland.

The 17 defendants are charged with various crimes in the eight-count indictment, including operating as a major trafficker, first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, second degree conspiracy and other related charges. Beaubrun is charged as operating as a major trafficker and faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted.

Twelve defendants were arrested and arraigned, four defendants are incarcerated and waiting arraignment and one defendant has not been apprehended.

The arraigned defendants include the following: