Suffolk DA: 4 busted in major cocaine ring

Suffolk authorities said they busted a major cocaine ring with the arrests of four men accused of smuggling drugs in hidden compartments of high-end cars shipped from California.

The crew stashed the drugs in specially modified cars, including a Jeep Grand Cherokee that had a hidden nook beneath its cargo floor that could be hydraulically activated by engaging the parking brake, putting on the seat belt and clicking the key fob, said District Attorney Thomas Spota. Along with the Jeep, other vehicles seized included a Mercedes-Benz, a BMW, two Cadillac Escalades, a Chrysler 300 SRT-8, a Lexus GS430 and a Nissan 350Z, Spota said.

He said investigators also seized 32 kilograms of cocaine with a street value of $3.2 million, $900,000 in cash, two shotguns, dozens of bottles of steroids, the eight cars and equipment used in the drug trade, such as cash counting machines.

"I think it makes a major dent in cocaine drug trafficking in Suffolk County," Spota said of the culmination of the eight-month-long investigation by his office and Suffolk police.

Spota said Robert Perticone, 30, of 549 Polaris St., North Babylon, was the Long Island ringleader of the crew that sent millions of dollars back to California over the past five years.

He and two others -- Richard Occhino, 46, also of 549 Polaris St., and Theodore Katsanos, 29, of 16 Deborah Court, Bay Shore -- are charged with first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, felonies that carry a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.

Jose Tejada, 33, of 181 Bergen Ave., in West Babylon, is charged with second-degree conspiracy. The four, who were arrested July 19, are being held on bail. All have pleaded not guilty.

Spota said a warrant also has been issued for the alleged supplier of the drugs in California, William Wright, 33, of Los Angeles.

Wright would hide drugs he got from Mexico in the cars and ship them on a tractor-trailer car transport to Occhino's motorcycle shop, Radical Rides, in Deer Park, Spota said. Perticone would then return cash in the same manner and in the same cars.

Perticone bought the cocaine at $20,500 per kilogram, then would dilute it with other powders and sell it in various parts of Suffolk County, Spota said.

Perticone's attorney, Ray Perini of Hauppauge, said his client has no criminal record and runs a legitimate plumbing business."It's easy to call someone a kingpin, but much harder to prove it," Perini said.

Perticone's wary neighbors said they had always suspected he was more than just a plumber, noting his extensively renovated house that included security cameras and the frequent, lavish parties he threw.

"I'm not surprised at all," said Steve Quintana, 36, who lives behind Perticone's house.

The drug smuggle

How the crew got the drugs from California to Suffolk County:

• The accused supplier in Los Angeles received the drugs from Mexico.

• He placed the cocaine in the cars' hidden compartments and shipped them cross-country via tractor-trailer car transports to a motorcycle shop in Deer Park.

• Once the drugs were removed at the shop, the crew would return cash to California in the same manner and in the same cars.