UP aNd OUt
High-rise raid brings down synth-drug duo
A PHALANX of officers wearing gas masks and all-white hazmat suits homed in on a luxury high-rise in Queens Tuesday — leading to the arrest of two suspected synthetic drug traffickers.
Brian Parker, 34, and Victoria Koleski, 29, were cuffed following the dramatic raid at the ultra-modern, 42-story tower on Center Blvd. in Long Island City, authorities said.
Neighbors were shocked to hear that a suspected synthetic drug mill was operating on the fourth floor of a building that features two tennis courts, a beach volleyball court and a dog run.
“This is some scary s--- that’s happening under my nose,” said one woman, a mother of two in her 40s.
“It’s not the type of thing you think would happen in Long Island City.”
The joint federal and state probe was set in motion after the fatal overdose of a 37-year-old Wisconsin man in May 2016 was linked to drugs sold by Parker, authorities said.
The Long Island City man is accused of selling a host of designer drugs — including a synthetic opioid that is several times more potent than morphine — through a pair of internet-based companies, Unbeatablechems and RC Powders.
Prosecutors say Parker used a network of associates, including Koleski, to run his online drug bazaar.
The conspirators would receive raw materials from China and elsewhere and send them along to Parker, who would manufacture the substances into the chemicals he sold online, prosecutors said.
Parker would transport the finished products back to his associates, who shipped them off to his online customers.
Among the drugs Parker produced was U-47700, a synthetic opioid far more powerful than morphine, according to prosecutors.
A man whose 28-year-old North Carolina son nearly overdosed on a substance allegedly produced by Parker said he was horrified to learn the drugs were purchased from a regular website.
“I just can’t believe you can go online and just order whatever you want,” the father said.
Asked what he would like to say to Parker, the man didn’t hesitate.
“It’s not so much what I’d want to say to him as what I would want to do to him,” the father said.
Over the week starting June 30, Koleski shipped roughly 218 packages — many of which contained drugs produced by Parker — from a post office in her hometown of Farmingdale, N.J., authorities said.
A Newark federal judge ordered Parker and Koleski to remain in custody until an upcoming bail proceeding. Parker, who has two prior federal drug convictions, and Koleski are each facing at least 20 years behind bars, if convicted.
The probe was carried out by investigators with the Newark office of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, the New York State Police and U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
Hours after the raid, building management sent out a letter to residents alerting them to an arrest of a tenant “involving drugs and drug related paraphernalia.”
“Investigators have confirmed that the activity in question was confined to one apartment, which has been found to be clear of any explosives and weaponry, and does not pose a threat to building residents or the general public,” it read in part.