Pictured at today’s press conference announcing the arrest of 12 people on federal drug conspiracy charges are, from left: U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations Supervisor Tract Casey, New York State Police Troop B Commander Maj. Richard Smith, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Office Plattsburgh branch Director Rick Bowman, U.S. Border Patrol Swanton Sector Chief John Pfeifer, United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York Richard Hartunian, Massena Village Police Chief Timothy Currier, Homeland Security Investigations Buffalo office Special Agent-In-Charge James Spero, Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent-In-Charge Jim Burns, St. Lawrence County Sheriff Kevin Wells, St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Police Chief Andrew Thomas, and Oneida Indian Nation Police Chief Joe Smith.

By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- Representatives of more than a dozen local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies announced yearlong investigations culminated in this morning’s arrest of nine Massena and three New York City residents on federal charges alleging conspiracy to sell and possess with intent to sell more than 500 grams of cocaine, 28 grams of crack cocaine, and heroin.

Federal search warrants at four Massena addresses also yielded 380 grams of cocaine, 77 grams of heroin, 100 grams of crack cocaine, five handguns, and $11,000 cash.

“The success we felt today is going to be felt by the community,” United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York Richard Hartunian told a crowd of about 60 at the Massena Town Hall.

“This will have a major impact on the drug business in this area.”

Authorities allege the group was controlled by several New York City drug dealers who would use couriers to get their product to St. Lawrence, Franklin, and Clinton counties and re-sell them at considerable profit starting in at least 2012. Some of the drugs and money came from or went into Canada, officials said.

“Money is always at the root of it,” Hartunian said. “The product is bought (in New York City) in ounces and sold here in grams … the mark-up is exponential.”

But law enforcement officials say the most disturbing part of the group’s influence is violent turf wars between factions that involved firearms.

“They engage in acts of intimidation and violence to protect their drug trade and let others know they are in charge,” Hartunian said.

One of the defendants charged Thursday, Patrick Lloyd, 25, of Massena, was shot at by an alleged rival dealer on Maple Street, which led to an afternoon-long armed standoff in March. Lloyd is also facing a kidnapping charge stemming from an alleged February incident and a menacing charge stemming from an alleged April home invasion.

When asked if any of the group are connected to gangs, Hartunian said more information may come out as the case moves through the court system.

Massena Village Police Chief Timothy Currier said although today’s bust was a major step in cleaning up Massena’s streets, it doesn’t get at the root of the problem.

“It’s not just a situation we can arrest our way out of,” Currier said. “The reality is there’s a market for the product here, there’s a reason drug sales occur.”

Currier said families and the community need to work toward improved parenting skills, teaching life skills to youth, and bolstering economic development efforts.

“We must do better. I’m a firm believer that there’s nothing wrong with Massena that can’t be fixed with what’s good about Massena,” Currier said.

Law enforcement heads praised inter-agency cooperation and gave credit to the Department of Homeland Security Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST), a roundtable of federal, state and local law enforcement officials.

“The scope and scale of this problem including the number of people involved and the wide area of their operation required us to work with every level of law enforcement from local to federal therefore taking this case federally made the most sense,” Currier said in an emailed statement.

BEST was first developed and used on the Mexican border to combat drug cartels, Homeland Security Investigation Special Agent-In-Charge Jim Spero said. It was successful and there are now 30 of them nationwide, including one in Massena.

An audience member at this afternoon’s press conference questioned law enforcement’s decision to take the group down on the first day of school. Spero and Hartunian said factors beyond their control dictated they make the arrests today. Spero said the helicopters many may have noticed hovering around in the early morning hours were to help ensure the safety of officers and the community because the suspects were considered “high-risk targets.”

Agencies involved included Homeland Security Investigations, Massena Village Police, St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office, New York State Police, St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Police, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Air and Marine and Office of Field Operations, Drug Enforcement Administration, Potsdam Village Police, Royal Canadian Counted Police, Oneida Indian Nation Police, United States Border Patrol, New York Attorney General’s Office, and District Attorney’s offices of St. Lawrence, Franklin, and Clinton counties.

Facing a charge of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute and to distribute a controlled substance are:

• Patrick Lloyd, a.k.a. “Problem,” 25, of New York City

• Jessica Monaghan, 26, of Massena

• Codi Burke, 21, of Massena

• Michael Spencer, a.k.a. “Don,” 25, of New York City

• Bernie Russo, 35, of Massena

• Kimberly Jandrew, 27, of Massena

• Justin Brailsford, 25, of Massena

• Jon Garcia, 22, of New York City

• Zachary Huto, 21, of Massena

• Leslie Moore, 27, of Massena

• Paul Williams, a.k.a. “Cash,” 30, of Massena

Garcia and Brailsford are facing an additional charge of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance stemming from allegedly possessing cocaine and heroin in Clinton County on July 6. Williams is facing the same charge stemming from an incident where he allegedly possessed more than an ounce of crack in Clinton County on August 8.

Lloyd is facing 10 years to life and up to $10 million in fines because of a prior felony drug conviction. He was convicted in Sept. 2006 of fourth-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance in New York County.

All of the other defendants are looking at five to 40 years in federal prison and up to $5 million in fines.