Published: August 21, 2007 10:14 pm      

NIAGARA FALLS: Cops take down drug ring

Falls cops and federal agents arrest 23 in border drug smuggling operation

The video camera of a federal agent was rolling as Falls cops led Mark Lewis from a Hyde Park Boulevard home Tuesday morning.

“Hi mom,” he said, mugging while his hands were handcuffed behind his back. “I’ll be home soon.”

Cataract City narcotics cops and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents don’t think so.

Lewis was one of almost two dozen suspects taken into custody in a series of pre-dawn raids and arrests that officers say took down a significant drug smuggling ring based in the Falls. The operation targeted Ron Jay Bennett, a well-known Falls-based drug dealer who is accused of bringing significant amounts of club drugs and marijuana into the area from Canada.

Twenty-three people were taken into custody during the roundup, joining 21 drug smugglers and four major drug suppliers already arrested as a result of the investigation. Federal agents, Falls Police and investigators from the New York State Organized Crime Task Force became aware of Bennett’s smuggling operation last summer and began a full-scale investigation in the fall.

“The drugs were manufactured in Toronto, then sold to a distributor in St. Catharines,” Falls Police Narcotics Division Capt. Morris Shamrock said. “Then (the distributor) would hook up with Ron Jay and he would sell (the drugs) retail.”

Bennett’s primary products were Ecstacy and marijuana.

Investigators said Bennett would smuggle “bulk cash” into Canada and then drugs back into the United States. They said the ring would frequently bring in several shipments of drugs a week.

“Ron Jay would arrange to have mules (drug couriers) take cash in and then pick up the drugs,” Shamrock said. “He preferred female mules and usually arranged the trips around bingo times, so they didn’t attract attention.”

Shamrock said Bennett has a “pretty good” market for his drugs in the Falls, Buffalo and other parts of Western New York.

“This intensive investigation has put a serious dent in illegal drug smuggling in Niagara Falls and the Buffalo area,” said Lev Kubiak, acting special agent in charge of the ICE office here.

The final takedown began Monday night, when agents lured Jada Sears, the St., Catharines distributor, across the border. She was arrested as she crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

A task force of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies then fanned out across the Falls Tuesday morning armed with arrest and search warrants.

Around 7:30 a.m., heavily armed members of the Falls Police Emergency Response Team surrounded a home at 1506 Hyde Park Boulevard where Bennett, his associate Lewis and another suspect were holed up. The team burst through a side door and took the suspects into custody.

They also seized an estimated 600 Ecstacy tablets. Agents also recovered 40 caliber and 22 caliber handguns at other locations.

All the suspects face federal drug possession and conspiracy charges.

They were being arraigned in U.S. District Court in Buffalo Tuesday afternoon. The arraignments were expected to continue later today.