Cops: Drug ring busted in upscale Nassau communities
James Blatchly's house on Oyster Bay Road in Locust Valley. (April 28, 2010) Credit: Newsday / Karen Wiles Stabile
Police from Glen Cove and Nassau County busted a drug ring supplied in part by marijuana grown in a tony Nassau County neighborhood.
Six people have been arrested, including the suspected ringleader, James Blatchly, 49, of 251 Oyster Bay Rd., Locust Valley.
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Police from Glen Cove and Nassau County busted a drug ring supplied in part by marijuana grown in a tony Nassau County neighborhood.
Six people have been arrested, including the suspected ringleader, James Blatchly, 49, of 251 Oyster Bay Rd., Locust Valley.
Glen Cove police said that Blatchly ran the operation out of an apartment in Locust Valley and a home in the upscale Roslyn neighborhood of Flower Hill.
Wholesale, Blatchly would charge about $2,200 a pound for marijuana, and roughly $200 for an eight-ball - street slang for an eighth of an ounce, Fitzpatrick said.
Blatchly, a painter, ran what police called "a mini drug factory," including the manufacture of crack, at the Locust Valley address.
Blatchly would pick up cocaine from his connection in Harlem then bring the supply back to his Locust Valley home to convert it into crack, said Det. Lt. Thomas Fitzpatrick of the Glen Cove city police.
Police said they confiscated about 100 marijuana plants, 7 ounces of cocaine and "substantial drug paraphernalia" from his residence.
Police said the basement had been converted into a hydroponics lab at another residence, 67 Knollwood Dr. W. in Flower Hill - with sun lamps, incubators, watering, ventilation and carbon dioxide gas systems for plant growth. Authorities said they seized about 300 plants from the Knollwood Drive residence.
The case began with a tip from a "concerned citizen," the Nassau district attorney's office said. Eventually, Fitzpatrick said, investigators used wiretaps.
Blatchly was charged with eight felonies, including first-degree criminal possession of marijuana (more than 10 pounds); one count of second-degree and two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance; two counts of third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance; fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon; and two counts of fourth-degree conspiracy. He was held on $300,000 bail, police said.
Also arrested were brothers Greg and Jeff Ergen of West Harbor Drive, Bayville; Robert Nelson of Valley Lane, Locust Valley; Thomas McCarthy of Oyster Bay Road, Locust Valley; and Salvatore Marino of 12th Street, Locust Valley.