WITH ARREST, ‘MULTI-YEAR PROBE’

INTO DRUG TRAFFICKING IS AT END

30 Arrests For Selling Heroin, Oxycodone Made Since 2011, Sheriff Says

COOPERSTOWN – Sheriff Richard J. Devlin Jr. this afternoon announced that Tuesday’s arrest of a suspect in Putnam County has brought two multi-year investigations into heroin and oxycodone trafficking “in and around Otsego County” to an end.

More than 30 people were arrested in “Operation Dial Tone,” focused on heroin, and “Operation White Gold,” focused on oxycodone that has been “covertly stolen” from the Covidien plant in Hobart, he said.

Nicholas Torres, 22, of Mohegan Lake, arrested during a routine traffic stop in Putnam County, is the suspect in the sale of oxycodone to a confidential information in the Southside Mall parking lot in October 2011.

Torres worked for Jose “Flip” Rodriguez, who has since been arrested and convicted in Otsego County Court, according to a statement from the sheriff’s department.  Both men allegedly worked for a larger organization operated by a Jamele Baez, based in New York City.

READ SHERIFF DEVLIN’S FULL PRESS RELEASE