N.Y. police bust heroin ring; 12 arrested

July 10, 2008 05:52 AM

By Ann Givens
Newsday (New York)

NASSAU, N.Y. — A heroin ring that was putting the drug into the hands of Nassau teenagers has been blown open, law enforcement authorities said yesterday.

A dozen people were arrested, including the ex-boyfriend of a Massapequa teen whose high-profile death at a house party made news last month, officials said.

The ring, which was operating out of the Hempstead bus terminal, was a central supply line feeding the drug to middle-class teenagers on Long Island’s South Shore, Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice said.

Last month, Natalie Ciappa, 18, became the latest teenager to die while using heroin, Rice said at a news conference. Authorities made that determination based on preliminary toxicology reports, although they have not yet determined if she died of an overdose. Ciappa had dated one of the 12 people arrested in the heroin ring, Philip Ordaya, 21, of Seaford, who got her hooked on the drug, her parents said at a news conference.

He was not charged with selling drugs, but authorities said he is a suspected dealer.

“This is just another example of the district attorney aggressively pursuing a headline instead of aggressively pursuing the truth,” said Ordaya’s attorney, Craig McElwee of Lindenhurst. “Philip’s involvement, or lack of involvement, is going to be seen by all, and the truth of the witch hunt will also be seen.”

Watching it happen

It is not clear where Ciappa got her final dose of heroin. Rice said her office is still investigating whether there is any direct link between Ciappa’s death and her ex-boyfriend’s dealing.

“The whole time she was with him they were both high on heroin,” Ciappa’s mother, Doreen, said tearfully at the news conference yesterday in Mineola.

“It’s difficult to admit your child took heroin,” she said. “It was difficult for us to admit it to ourselves. She was beautiful, she was smart. She did not look like a heroin addict.”

The arrests come at a time when law enforcement officials say they are seeing an increase in heroin use among Nassau’s teenagers. In 2002, there were about 100 total heroin sale and possession arrests countywide. Last year there were about 150 - a 50 percent increase - said Det. Lt. Pete Donohue, deputy commanding officer of Nassau’s Narcotics and Vice Squad.

“Let parents and schools and communities be on alert that heroin use by our children is on the rise,” Rice said. “We stand here today to put drug dealers on notice that we will not stand idly by and wait for more of our children to die.”

Police officials and Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, who attended the news conference, said they have met with school superintendents to discuss the problem, and will continue to reach out to schools. They said they are also training officers in each police precinct to inform the community about heroin abuse.

Rice said her investigation, which began in February, led detectives to a Roosevelt home that they believe is the main Nassau County distribution point being used by the ring. When police searched the house, they seized 804 glassine envelopes of heroin, Rice said.

Investigation closes in

In May, Rice said she applied for an eavesdropping warrant on two cellular phones used by Alexander Fontanet, 35, of Ozone Park and Edward Fontanet, 35, of East Elmhurst, who she said are believed to be the ringleaders of the network. The two brothers have been charged with first-degree possession of a controlled substance. Alexander faces 12 to 24 years in prison if convicted and Edward faces 8 to 20 years, prosecutors said. Both pleaded not guilty; Alexander is being held on bail of $100,000 cash or $50,000 bond. Edward’s bail is $150,000 cash or $75,000 bond.

Alexander Fontanet’s lawyer could not be reached for comment. Brian Carmody, of Westbury, who represents Edward Fontanet, declined to comment.

After Ciappa’s death, detectives said they found out that her ex-boyfriend was involved in some of the wiretapped telephone conversations. They put Ordaya under surveillance and eventually arrested him on a drug conspiracy charge July 7, Rice said. He faces 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison if convicted. He pleaded not guilty and is being held on bail of $20,000 cash or $10,000 bond.

Doreen Ciappa said Natalie said she did not know she was doing heroin at first, because she mistakenly thought the drug was always injected.

“I sat at her wake. And what broke my heart was that so many confident parents walked up to me with their children,” Ciappa said. “Even though their children looked beautiful and healthy, that’s what this new heroin does. It tricks the parents. It makes them think, ‘Not my kid.’”

Heroin is cheaper and easier for teens to use

Teenagers often graduate to heroin use after raiding their parents’ medicine cabinets for prescription drugs, police said. Heroin imported from Mexico and South America is now cheaper than ever before.

In 2006, the street value for a bundle of heroin was $150, but now the average price in Nassau County is $90 for one bundle, and in some areas it is as low as $70, police said.

Because the heroin entering the country is purer than ever, users can snort and smoke it rather than inject it, law enforcement officials said. That leads many teens to assume that it is safer than the deadly drug they have read about and seen in movies.

More people are using it

Hospital admissions for people being treated for opiate overdoses are up sharply in Suffolk and slightly in Nassau since 2000, according to the state Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse.

Both heroin overdose deaths and arrests are up in Nassau, according to the Nassau district attorney’s office. Deaths went from 24 in 2004 to 37 in 2006, the last year for which final numbers are available. Arrests went from 133 to 151 last year.