Feds to fight N.Y.’s heroin

THE DRUG Enforcement Agency is sending a special heroin task force to New York to help combat opioid trafficking.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called on the agency to dispatch a team of agents in June, and on Friday he celebrated the move.

“I’m pleased that the feds have heeded the call,” said Schumer (D-N.Y.). “As the overdoses related to illicit fentanyl and other synthetic opioids increase, the new enforcement team will help the NYPD, Long Island and other local police departments across the state contain and beat back the dangerous tide.”

The team, one of six nationwide, will include two new DEA agents and two officers from an existing task force based on Long Island, Schumer said.

The New York DEA field division has identified New York City as a major distribution hub for heroin mills that use Kennedy Airport as an entry point, he added.

Schumer earlier this year helped secure $12.5 million in federal funding for the creation of new enforcement groups dedicated to counteracting heroin and fentanyl trafficking.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions cheers on Customs and Border Protection officers (bottom) and other crimefighters Friday at JFK Airport. The nation’s top lawman praised Customs Officer Thomas Pagano (inset) for his role in drug seizures at the airport.