Drug dealers across Chautauqua County should be looking over their shoulders, Dunkirk Police Chief David Ortolano said Monday.
"The Dunkirk and Fredonia Police departments, along with the Southern Tier Regional Drug Task Force will continue their cooperative and coordinated efforts to remove these people from our communities," he said.
Referring to the arrests this past weekend of seven individuals charged with selling cocaine and prescription drugs throughout Chautauqua County as a "spring cleaning," Ortolano said it's an early start and a message to the area's bad guys.
"They better be looking out," he said.
Lt. David Bentley, with the drug task force, said these dealers interfere with the community's quality of life.
"They lead to a lot of the blight and criminal activity and the recent action taken by the state legislature and Gov. David Paterson to relax the Rockefeller Drug Laws provides an advantage to the accused, not us," he said.
Fredonia Chief Brad Meyers said those convicted of drug violations belong in jail, not back on the streets.
The law enforcement officials spoke about multi-generational individuals dealing in drugs.
"The young ones generally know nothing else and are following in the older persons' footsteps," Bentley said.
These individuals are known to drug enforcement officials, Bentley said.
"The same names keep cropping up, as I review past cases," he said.
Ortolano said he realizes budget are tight, but he thinks it's wrong for the state to pass the incarceration of convicted dealers back to the county
Many of the recent homicides in the county can be traced to drugs, the law enforcement officers said.
They added that the complexity of the investigations that led to the recent arrests are time consuming.
"Our guys are working every single day to combat the drug problem and we suggest the community residents contact their state representatives about the Rockefeller Law's repeal which affects sentencing of individuals convicted of drug violations.
Those arrested recently include six Dunkirk residents and one from Portland who allegedly was selling drugs in the Fredonia area.
Indicted by a secret Grand Jury were:
Javar Battle, 30, of 125 King St., Dunkirk. He was charged with one count of third-degree criminal sale of crack cocaine
Bobby Allen, 29, 49 East Second St., Dunkirk. He was charged with two counts of third-degree criminal sale of crack cocaine.
A quantity of money was seized from Allen at the time of his arrest.
Adam West, 26, Lake Road, Portland, charged with two counts of third-degree criminal sale of prescription drugs.
Picked up on Dunkirk City Court arrest warrants were:
Timothy Hall, 58, of 45 Fairview Ave., Dunkirk, was charged with one count of third-degree criminal sale and third-degree criminal possession of crack cocaine.
He also was charged with two counts of seventh-degree criminal possession of cocaine and narcotic pills.
Jose Rodriguez, 35, of 124 Lincoln Ave., who was charged with one count of third-degree criminal possession and third-degree criminal sale involving crack cocaine. He was also charged with two counts of seventh-degree criminal possession after allegedly possessing cocaine and narcotics pills when he was arrested.
James Jackson, 22, of Townsend Street, Dunkirk, was arrested on a parole warrant and charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. He was allegedly found to be in possession of a quantity of narcotics pills at the time of his arrest. Antonio Watts, 22, of 213 Smith Court Apartments, Dunkirk was charged with one count of seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance when he allegedly found with a quantity of narcotic pills in his possession at the time of his arrest.
He was taken into custody for violating his parole.
Referring to the defendants as "lower level drug dealers" Ortolano said, "These are the people who are causing drug problems in our community and I urge the public to call our tip line or contact our officers to report suspected drug activity.
"We can use all the eyes and ears there are in our community."
