Guess the landlord?

Nov 15 2006 1:08 PM
Cops make historic heroin bust

By John Pirro and Eugene Driscoll
THE NEWS-TIMES

Lt. J. Paul Vance, spokesman for the Connecticut State Police speaks to the the media at the Southbu
(AP Photo/The Republican-American, Tom Kabelka)
NEW MILFORD -- Police late Monday raided a Candlewood Lake Road residence and made what is being called the largest-ever seizure of pure heroin in New England, 18 kilograms, or nearly 40 pounds, with an estimated street value of $15 million.

Officers from the New Milford Police Department and detectives from the state police Statewide Narcotics Task Force executed a search and seizure warrant at 813 Candlewood Lake Road and arrested the occupant, 33-year-old Julio Rodolfo Flores-Ceron, on a variety of drug charges, including possession of narcotics. conspiracy to distribute and operating a drug factory.

"Right now, we believe this the largest seizure ever of heroin in Connecticut," state police spokesman Trooper William Tate said. "It will definitely have an effect on heroin supplies in the state, and possibly even through New England."

A spokesman for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration subsequently confirmed that haul was probably a record for New England.

"No one here can recall anything bigger in at least the last 10 years," said Tony Pettigrew, a spokesman in the DEA's regional office in Boston.

Investigators on Tuesday remained mum about the case, saying only that the narcotics task force and New Milford police developed information enabling them to obtain a warrant to search the house while investigating narcotics trafficking in the greater New Milford area.

"We're not discussing anything about it right now," Tate said. "We have to allow the detectives the opportunity to work this case, so we're not releasing any information beyond the size of the seizure and the kind of drugs involved."

Police did display the fruits of the investigation Tuesday afternoon at the Troop A barracks in Southbury. The drugs were secreted in metal trailer hitches, one of which still had a powdery residue of heroin visible on the outside.

Also on display was a bag of heroin, packaging materials, scales, and as a possible indication of the amount of money the operation generated -- a currency-counting machine.

Flores-Ceron was arraigned Tuesday morning in Superior Court in Bantam, where a judge set his bail at $3 million. To secure his release, Judge Richard Marano said, Flores-Ceron must post the bond in cash.

The case was transferred to Litchfield Superior Court, and Flores-Ceron is being held at the New Haven Correctional Center pending another court appearance Nov. 28.

The raised ranch where the seizure occurred overlooks Candlewood Lake near Oak Place Club, a private community where boat docks line the shore. Houses in the neighborhood sit on about an acre of land, most of them neatly landscaped.

Two neighbors said the house was a rental and that the current tenants moved in roughly a year ago. There seemed to be four men living there who mostly kept to themselves, said Frank DeFrino, who lives next door.

"As far as the people over there, they were quiet guys. They would just go by, wave, and that was the extent of them."

DeFrino took notice of his neighbors Monday, however, when a gaggle of cop cars lined the road and a police officer with a canine set up shop in his driveway. He said one officer told him the arrest was "international."

Court papers indicate that Flores-Ceron was born in Guatemala. His immigration status was under investigation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but a call to the special agent handling his case wasn't returned Tuesday.

Monday's arrest was the second major heroin seizure in the area in less than a week. On Thursday, state police and detectives from the Danbury police Special Investigations Division arrested a 48-year-old North Carolina man and seized about a pound of heroin, with an estimated street value of $800,000, at the Exit 2 rest stop on Interstate 84.

The drugs were being transported from the Bronx to Danbury, police said.

State police on Tuesday wouldn't comment on a possible connection between the Danbury and New Milford arrests.

"We're not drawing any lines of correlation between this case and any other case," Tate said.

DEA spokesman Pettigrew noted that the heroin seized Monday hadn't yet been combined with a cutting agent and packaged for street sale.

Heroin, once cut, usually sells for between $50 and $120 per gram, and pure heroin sells for between $70,000 and $100,000 per kilogram, giving the stash a wholesale value of between $1.2 million and $1.8 million.

The federal agency was informed of the seizure but didn't participate in the investigation, he said.

DeFrino, a retired dentist, made two observations about his neighbors. He said they drove nice cars -- a sporty Honda Civic, a MINI Cooper, and several "nice trucks." One of the men often talked outside on his cell phone.

DeFrino otherwise didn't suspect anything nefarious about his neighbors, although his wife did.

"My wife was suspicious," he said. "She said 'Those guys don't go to work.'"

From WNTH.com:

The state police Statewide Narcotics task force has hit the mother lode with a bust in New Milford involving $15 million worth of heroin.

State officials say they seized nearly 40 pounds of pure heroin last night in a raid on a home on Candlewood Lake road.

They've arrested 33-year-old Julio Ceron on a number of charges after searching his home and allegedly finding the heroin hidden in trailer hitches