BY Howard Koplowitz
A 12-year-old girl was among 37 people arrested in a major undercover drug sweep in the Rockaways involving residents of two housing developments on the peninsula, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
The five-month investigation netted the arrest of the 12-year-old, whose name was withheld by the DA’s office.
Brown said her case will be prosecuted in Queens Family Court.
The 36 other defendants, who range in age from 17 to 52, included two alleged members of the Bloods and a screener for the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, the DA said.
Those arrested were charged with selling crack and powdered cocaine, oxycodone, marijuana and other controlled substances to undercover police officers on more than 110 separate occasions during the five-month undercover investigation, Brown said.
“We anticipate that these arrests will put a significant dent in the drug trafficking and drug-related violence that has long plagued the area,” the DA said in a statement. “These individuals are alleged to have operated with near impunity — selling drugs to those close to their own homes, while a seemingly defiant few are alleged to have sold their products near a public school and a daycare center.
“All mistakenly thought that they were operating under wraps when they allegedly sold their drugs to undercover officers,” Brown said. “In fact, they were under investigation and marked for arrest, prosecution and long prison sentences.”
Brown said the operation began in March, when residents complained of drug deals going down near the Ocean Bay Houses and the Ocean Village development.
Brown said undercover officers purchased about nine pounds of marijuana, 180 oxycodone pills and other narcotics at more than 110 different times during the investigation.
Search warrants related to the arrest led to the seizure of $14,000 in cash, 11 pounds of marijuana, two Mercedes-Benzes and a BMW, the DA said.
Brown said some of the drug sales occurred near PS 33 at 365 Beach 56th St. and the Lucille Ross Daycare Center at 148 Beach 59th St.
The 37 defendants were variously charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance and/or criminal sale of marijuana, Brown said.
Joy Smith Faulkenson, a 32-year-old TSA screener living at 57-15 Shore Front Pkwy., was one of seven people arrested on felony charges in the sting, the DA said.
Fourteen others were indicted and another 15 were arrested on misdemeanor charges, Brown said.
Travis Brown, 37, of 439 Beach 59th St., and 42-year-old Robert White, of 249 Beach 15th St., are alleged Bloods members who were charged with misdemeanors, the DA said.
Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at hkoplowitz@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4573.
