Marijuana, cocaine seized
Police arrest 9 after simultaneous raids in the city
TROY, N.Y. » Nine people were arrested and marijuana, cocaine and cash seized Thursday night as police from throughout the region raided more than a halfdozen homes in the city.
Federal, state and local SWAT teams simultaneously served search warrants at 9 p.m. on homes at 33 Tyler St., 319 4th St., 272 4th St., 390 8th St., 375 10th St., 3258 6th Ave. and 632 2nd Ave. in connection to a “lengthy” investigation into illegal drugs and guns in the Collar City by city and state police, Troy police spokesman Capt. Daniel DeWolf said.
DeWolf said the searches yielded nearly 6 ½ pounds of marijuana, a felony-level amount of cocaine and just over $9,000 in cash, while police also seized surveillance systems at some of the locations, along with packaging and scales.
“Primarily it was marijuana, so it made a decent dent [in the city’s drug trade], I mean it was about 6 ½ pounds of marijuana,” said DeWolf. “In the big scheme of things, it’s not overly large, it’s not [a lot of] narcotics, but the investigation was looking for marijuana, so the end result was what they were looking for.”
DeWolf said the lengthy investigation involved tips, confidential informants and other investigative techniques.
Police also arrested Shaun A. Wilkinson, 39, of Brooklyn; Christopher S. Ward, 40, of 70 Campbell Ave; Howard O. Nedrick, 42, of 250 3rd Ave.; Germaine D. Hargrove, 54, of Brooklyn; John C. Foster Jr., 38, of 204 Hill St.; Shannon L. Dame, 39, of 365 2nd St.; Ron A. Roberts, 39, of Schenectady; James S. Mayotte, 47, of 3258 6th Ave.; Bobby A. Yarrell, 31, of 415 10th St.; and Leonard E. Jiles, 40, of Brooklyn. Charges included felony criminal possession of marijuana and criminal possession of controlled substance, as well as several outstanding warrants, with all nine arraigned Friday morning in Troy City
Court.
Troy police were assisted by SWAT teams from the New York State Police, FBI, Rensselaer and Saratoga County sheriff’s offices and Colonie, Tri-Town and Rensselaer police, with the Warren County Sheriff’s Office also providing tactical personnel and equipment and Watervliet police providing logistical help.
DeWolf said no injuries were reported to any officers or suspects.
Troy Mayor Patrick Madden said on Friday afternoon that he was grateful to see that no injuries were reported from all of the raids and that the police department did an outstanding job during it.
“I think it was just a well planned and well executed operation and I’m greatly relieved that it went off
without any hitch and no injuries,” said Madden. “This is our statement that we’re not going to tolerate drug dealing in our neighborhoods, when we get actionable information, we’re going to act on it, we don’t want the drugs and the violence in our neighborhoods. Our citizens deserve a safe, healthy communities and we’re working towards that end.”
“Our purpose is to make the community safer, and I think we did that,” said DeWolf. “Yeah, we don’t have this [ giant] haul, but it shows the community that you’re out there, you’re doing your job and taking it seriously and that you’re doing everything you can to keep that neighborhood safe.”