D.A.: Investigation Cracks Nyack Drug Operation

Four individuals have been arrested on drug charges following a three-month investigation in Nyack, where Rockland County District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said police uncovered a significant dealer linked to drug traffic on the streets of Nyack.

“Residents in Nyack are fed up with having their lives negatively defined by the threat of illegal drug sales and associated violence," said Zugibe. "This takedown will bring a measure of relief to the good people of this neighborhood who seek safety and peace for their families. This probe is another example of prosecutors and police working together with concerned citizens to reduce drug dealing that, too often, plagues our entire community.”

The investigation, which was conducted by the Rockland County Drug Task Force, the Town of Orangetown Police Department and the Town of Clarkstown Police Department’s Street Crime Unit, started in October following numerous complaints from local residents of drug sales in the vicinity of 250 Fifth Ave. in  Nyack.

Over the course of the investigation, which included extensive physical surveillance and undercover police officers posing as drug buyers, the four individuals were charged with the sale and possession of narcotics – including powdered cocaine and crack cocaine – on dozens of occasions.

According to the charges, the illegal narcotics were being moved through apartment 2B at 250 Fifth Ave. in Nyack, the home of Michael Jackson, 35, and Monique Felix, 34. Through extensive surveillance, Zugibe said it was revealed that the source of the powder and crack cocaine being trafficked into Nyack was Wilson Guillen, 30, of 2032 E. 17th St., the Bronx.

Zugibe said investigators identified Jackson as a significant drug dealer to additional drug runners and drug users in Nyack, the Town of Orangetown and the Town of Clarkstown, including open-air drug selling in Nyack.

Also charged was Derrick Jackson, 21, of 1610 St. Johns Place, Apt 2D, Brooklyn.

The defendants are charged with the crimes of second-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a Class “A-II” felony, punishable by up to 17 years in state prison; third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a Class “B” felony, punishable by up to nine years in state prison; endangering the welfare of a child and resisting arrest, Class “A” Misdemeanors, each punishable by up to one year in jail.

In addition to the arrests, court-authorized search warrants were executed at two locations. Among the items seized were more than four ounces of crack cocaine and powder cocaine, drug paraphernalia, digital scales, and U.S. currency.

The four defendants were arraigned today in the Village of Nyack Justice Court before the Judge Robert Knoebel. Each was remanded on $50,000 bail with a preliminary hearing scheduled for Friday.