A sweeping investigation led by New York Attorney General Letitia James has dismantled two major drug trafficking operations in Central New York and the North Country, resulting in the convictions of all 31 individuals charged.
Announced Thursday, the takedown uncovered more than 150,000 packets of fentanyl or fentanyl-laced heroin—valued at over $500,000—as well as methamphetamine and cocaine. The criminal networks, based in Onondaga, Oswego, Cortland, Jefferson, and St. Lawrence counties, were targeted through the Attorney General’s Organized Crime Task Force (OCTF) in collaboration with the Syracuse Police Department.
“This investigation successfully took down two drug trafficking rings that put communities throughout New York at risk by distributing deadly amounts of fentanyl,” said Attorney General James. “My office works every day to protect New Yorkers from opioids, and that includes bringing fentanyl traffickers to justice.”
The operation, part of the Suburban and Upstate Response to the Growing Epidemic (S.U.R.G.E.) initiative, used physical and electronic surveillance and executed multiple search warrants. In total, the effort led to 192 charges across two indictments and included weapons offenses.
The “Castro Group,” led by Bayron Castro of Syracuse, stored more than 100,000 glassine envelopes of fentanyl and heroin in suitcases inside a Syracuse apartment. Castro pleaded guilty to first-degree drug possession and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. His supplier, Luis Miguel Joaquin of the Bronx, received eight years after pleading guilty to criminal sale.
A second network, the “Pettiford Group,” was led by Edward Pettiford of Syracuse, who also pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six years. One member of the group, Henry Townsend, fired a weapon that struck an innocent civilian; he received a 12-year sentence for that incident and his role in drug trafficking.
Other sentences ranged from probation to 12 years in prison, with convictions for criminal sale, possession, and conspiracy. Over $25,000 in drug proceeds and two vehicles used in trafficking were also forfeited.
The case involved more than a dozen agencies including Homeland Security, the FBI, and multiple county sheriff’s offices. Syracuse Police Chief Joseph Cecile called the investigation “a prime example of our strength through collaboration.”
Since launching in 2017, the S.U.R.G.E. initiative has removed nearly 1,000 narcotics traffickers from New York communities.
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