30 gangsters in opioid bust

MORE THAN 30 drug-dealing Bloods gang members were indicted on charges of distributing and selling potent drugs throughout Brooklyn and in other parts of the country, prosecutors said Wednesday.

“This may be the biggest public health crisis of our time . . . these defendants don’t care about the death and despair they’re causing — just making money,” Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said at a press conference Wednesday.

The case involves alleged sales of furanyl fentanyl, a relatively new and strong opiate analog that is not yet classified as a controlled substance under New York State law, prosecutors said.

“Last year, 1,350 overdoses were linked to opiate abuse in New York — 28% of those deaths were in Brooklyn, triple our homicide rate . . . . Analogs are spiking,” said Gonzalez, who announced the 357-count indictment against 37 men and women.

Nigel Maloney (inset, top), 49, of Phoenix, allegedly was the main distributor who supplied the drugs to Warren Appolon, 46, of Queens, who in turn got the narcotics to Jerome Horton (inset, bottom), 47, and Willie Billingslea, 43, in Brooklyn to sell.

The $1 million-a-year operation that operated in New York, Arizona and the Carolinas was “dismantled” after a long-term investigation that included secondary suppliers of heroin and furanyl fentanyl, also referred to as “China White.”

Joseph Raffone, 38, of Queens, and Kristian Cruz, 21, of Manhattan, allegedly received the bulk of the drugs through the mail from China.

During the investigation, a total of 2.46 kilograms of cocaine, 1.7 kilograms of heroin and 4.56 kilograms of furanyl fentanyl, 17 guns and $300,000 in cash were recovered.

The defendants allegedly made their transactions in cars and sold the drug in glassine envelopes costing $7 to $10 a pop. If convicted, all the defendants face a maximum of 20 years in prison.