Investigation of Mexico-Long Island heroin pipeline will be detailed Thursday, Kathleen Rice says

A heroin pipeline that stretched from Mexico to Long Island has been busted after an 18-month investigation that started with undercover street buys, the Nassau County district attorney's office said Wednesday.

Nine people were arrested in recent weeks, part of a multiagency takedown that District Attorney Kathleen Rice will announce Thursday during a news conference in Mineola. Also appearing will be federal and local officials, including from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, State Police, and the New York City Police Department, as well as Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano.

The probe started with the undercover buys made by Nassau police officers and investigators in Rice's office, authorities said.

The traffickers sold millions of dollars in heroin, but they also used Craigslist to offer cocaine, Ecstasy and anabolic steroids, using code names to hide the illicit sales, Rice's office said.

Of the nine people arrested, one is from Mexico, two from California, two from Queens, one from Brooklyn and three from the Bronx, prosecutors said.

Other details were to be provided Thursday, Rice's office said.