Feds: Massapequa, Baldwin raids net drug traffic ring

Federal agents raided suspected drug trafficking locations in Massapequa and Baldwin and arrested several people Tuesday in connection with a California-based marijuana-smuggling operation, authorities said.

One of the places that the authorities hit was across the street from a Massapequa elementary school, prompting a school superintendent to say that he was "appalled" that drug traffickers could be so brazen.

That raid, on a house on Unqua Road, took place just after 8 a.m. - about one hour before students, who range from kindergartners to sixth-graders, began arriving at Unqua Elementary School.

One man was arrested in that raid, said Insp. Tom Boyle, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which conducted the investigation. He said three others were arrested in the afternoon raid in Baldwin.

"It is appalling that, despite intense efforts to educate our community, students and parents about the danger of drugs, an individual could be involved in the distribution and marketing of illegal substances in such close proximity to an elementary school," Massapequa Superintendent Charles Sulc said in a prepared statement released Tuesday. "It reinforces the fact that all of us on Long Island must continue to be vigilant in our efforts to spread awareness about substance abuse."

Boyle said he could not immediately release the names of the people who were arrested because they haven't been before a federal magistrate.

The federal Drug Enforcement Administration was involved in the raids, said agency spokeswoman Erin Mulvey.

A law enforcement source said that although four people were arrested in the operation, only three will face a federal drug-trafficking conspiracy charge; the fourth will be charged in state court.

That's because the fourth wasn't involved in the drug conspiracy but was seen by authorities conducting a low-level drug transaction.

"Timing is everything in life," the source said, "and his is not too good."