Thursday, October 17, 2013

Three men busted for selling drugs, guns from barber shop


Three men who used a Staten Island barber shop as front to sling guns and drugs have been arrested, authorities announced Thursday.


Investigators said Anthony Lagala, 27, Adam Paone, 29, and Marat Ayzenberg, 30, were selling around $ 20,000 worth of prescription painkillers a week out of Beyond Stylz barber shop in Great Kills after conducting a 10-month investigation dubbed Operation Buzz Cut, prosecutors said at a press conference hosted by Staten Island DA Daniel Donovan.


Undercover officers from the NYPD and DEA purchased almost 400 Oxycodone pills as well as 10 glassines of cocaine from the men between June and October of this year, authorities said. Most of the transactions took place at the Giffords Lane barber shop, which is owned by Lagala.


“We allege these guys were moving about 10,000 pills per week,” said DEA Special Agent Brian Crowell. “They were usually moving the 30 milligram Oxys because they can be crushed and snorted,”


Staten Island DA Donovan noted that “Some of those pills were actually wrapped in a receipt from the barbershop.”


Authorities also purchased four guns from the men at various times during the investigation, including an Uzi 9mm for $ 2,500, prosecutors said.


The investigation came to an end Tuesday as authorities arrested the brood, slapping them with a slew of charges including criminal sale and possession of guns and drugs.


Lagala, the ring leader, faces a maxium of 88 years in state prison, while his partners Paone and Ayzenberg are looking at 47 and 21 years in prison respectively, Donovan said.


“These three individuals are alleged to have trafficked deadly weapons and illegal drugs that would have certainly been circulated on the streets of a Staten Island had it not been for the fine investigative work that my prosecutors and the brave investigators of the DEA and New York City police department,” Donovan said Thursday.





Yahoo Local News – New York Post




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