Twenty-nine people, including 19 from New Haven, have been arrested over the past several days, accused of running two major crack cocaine distribution rings in southern Connecticut.
One organization was based in New Haven and the other in Ansonia, U.S. Attorney John Danaher III said.
Police also seized about 1.3 kilograms of crack cocaine, he said.
The groups’ suppliers were based in New York, and also were charged in the indictments that were returned by a grand jury in Hartford on Sept. 5 and unsealed Tuesday, Danaher said.
Those arrested face federal drug charges including conspiracy to distribute over 50 grams of cocaine base. If convicted of that charge, they face a mandatory prison term of 10 years to life.
The arrests, which began Sept. 12, came after a lengthy investigation by the New Haven Drug Task Force that included numerous court-ordered wiretaps and videotape surveillance.
Danaher called it “among the largest narcotics investigations in New Haven in recent years.”
He said the government will also seek the forfeiture of over $350,000 in cash and several vehicles used by the alleged drug traffickers.
–Associated Press