Bust nets drugs, guns, cash in Dutchess County
Ten people are facing charges following a multi-agency investigation into a major narcotics and firearms trafficking network operated out of a gas station in Dutchess County.
As a result of the investigation, New York State Attorney General Letitia James announced at a press conference Wednesday, authorities recovered 31 firearms, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, approximately 5,000 counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl with a street value of about $150,000, and approximately $55,000 in cash.
An investigation beginning in April 2022 revealed guns and drugs were being sold out of the Valero gas station on state Route 55 in LaGrange. The gas station is situated across the street from Arlington High School.
Muayad “Junior,” Qader, 34, of Poughkeepsie, was at the center of the state and local law enforcement’s investigation, James said. An employee at the gas station, Qader is accused of selling ghost guns and assault rifles there and at his home, as well as counterfeit oxycodone pills containing deadly amounts of fentanyl.
“In Dutchess County alone, 117 New
Yorkers died from an opioid overdose in 2022, and that amounts to one death about every three days,” James said.
AG calls for cracking down on ghost guns
The multi-agency investigation brought together the resources of state and local law enforcement agencies led by the Attorney General’s Organized Crime Task Force, including New York State Police from Troop K’s Violent Gang and Narcotics Enforcement Team, along with Special Investigations Unit of the Hudson Valley, plus the Poughkeepsie Police Department.
Authorities said the investigation included hundreds of hours of physical and covert surveillance, court-authorized wiretapping of cellular telephones, the analysis of electronic evidence, including cellular telephonic communications and other traditional investigative operations.
Ten people were indicted Wednesday. Curtis Holland, 32; Isiah Atkins, 27; Angel Williams, 24; Aaron Steppe, 29; Christopher Evans, 34, all of Poughkeepsie; and Stephen Gary, 39, of LaGrangeville, were charged with drug trafficking.
Jason Knapp, 43, of Verbank; Joseph Silverman, 30, of Port St. Lucie, Florida, and Louis Gonzalez, 53, of LaGrangeville, were charged with gun trafficking. Qader, was indicted on both gun and drug trafficking charges.
“During the course of our investigation, his main supplier of firearms was Jason Knapp, who assembled untraceable ghost guns for him and others to sell,” James said.
Most guns are traceable, but ghost guns can be assembled at home and are designed to circumvent gun laws. “They are becoming the choice for gun traffickers and other criminals seeking to evade state and federal gun regulations,” James said.
New York State enacted the Scott J. Beigel Unfinished Receiver Act and the Jose Webster Untraceable Firearms Act in 2021, criminalizing the sale of ghost guns, but James said there is still more to be done.
“Any law that addresses again the proliferation of illegal guns on the streets of New York is helpful, but we continue to see, unfortunately, an increase in the use of these ghost guns,” James said.
James added this investigation was just one of many that are still ongoing, and her office plans to do whatever can be done to “address the scourge of gun violence.”
Community leaders weigh in
“There is a terrible correlation between those fentanyl pills and every round of ammunition found to be in these loaded firearms,” said Major Samuel Spezial, detail commander of the New York State Police Special Investigations Unit. “The common denominator is that they do not discriminate.”
Too many lives are lost as a result of these drugs and firearms, he said. “We will continue to collaborate and utilize every resource at our disposal to ensure the safety of the citizens of New York State.”
Dutchess County Executive Sue Serino mentioned the importance of bringing awareness of this topic to the community.
“People think, ‘It’s not happening in my backyard,’” she said. “Well guess what? It’s happening everywhere.”