A Long Island man was indicted by a Queens grand jury for transporting two kilos of fentanyl, with a street value of $80,000, from Suffolk County to southeast Queens for the purpose of selling the drugs for profit last month.
Dennis Carroll, 31, of Evergreen Road in Flanders, was arraigned Dec. 12 before Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Aloise on a three-count indictment charging him with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first degree and two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
The Major Narcotics Unit of the DA’s Major Economic Crimes Bureau, in conjunction with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration’s New York Division, conducted an investigation utilizing court-authorized surveillance of the defendant’s activities during the month of November.
Based on the intelligence gathered, agents from the DEA and members of the Port Authority Police Department conducted a car stop at 188th Street in Hollis at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov 28. A search of the vehicle turned up two plastic bags containing approximately 2 kilograms of fentanyl, the deadly synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, inside the trunk of the Nissan Altima Carroll was driving. The DEA agents found a shopping bag containing two bricks of fentanyl in a Ziploc bag, enough to produce 20,000 counterfeit pills.
Carroll was taken into custody, but a passenger in his Nissan was not taken into custody.
Katz explained that there have been 315 suspected fatal overdose cases across Queens so far this year, and approximately 76.3% have been attributed to fentanyl.
“Overdose fatalities are up more than 50% in Queens this year and three if every four of those deaths are attributed to fentanyl and fentanyl derivatives,” Katz said. “That is why this case is so important and why my office will continue to work relentlessly to get this poison and its merchants off of our streets. I am proud of the work of my Major Economic Crimes team in this case and I would like to thank our partners at the DEA for their help, as well as their commitment to keeping our communities safe.”
Justice Aloise ordered Carrill to return to court on Jan. 10. He faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
“Fentanyl is the most dangerous illicit drug on the street today and it presents the most serious threat to public health and safety in the United States,” DEA Special Agent in Charge of the New York Division Frank Tarentino said. “In 2021, 107,622 Americans died from drug poisonings and over 66% are directly related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Seizures like this demonstrate DEA’s dedication and commitment to working with our law enforcement colleagues to bring to justice those who continue to flood our city streets with this poison.”
