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Task Force reacts to major NYC drug arrest

By Joseph Abraham
Posted 10/11/22

MONTICELLO –– Approximately 15,000 fentanyl pills were seized in a major drug arrest in New York City last week. 

Deputy Commissioner of the …

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Task Force reacts to major NYC drug arrest

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MONTICELLO –– Approximately 15,000 fentanyl pills were seized in a major drug arrest in New York City last week. 

Deputy Commissioner of the Division of Health and Human Services, Wendy Brown, who co-chairs the Sullivan County Drug Task Force with District Attorney Meagan Galligan, referenced the arrest in her report to legislators at Thursday’s Public Safety and Law Enforcement Committee meeting.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the fentanyl pills, in various colors, were destined for distribution throughout New York City and had been concealed in a LEGO box to deter law enforcement attention. The fentanyl pills were also imprinted with “M” and “30” to resemble “30 M”, Oxycodone Hydrochloride 30 mg pills, the DEA said.

“This significant seizure, the largest to date in New York City, signals more widespread distribution of these dangerous colorful pills,” said the DEA in a press release. “The case highlights Mexican cartels’ most recent tactics to attract the public while deceiving them about the lethal drugs. The Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco New Generation Cartel are mass-producing fentanyl pills in rainbow colors to not only brand their products, but use colors and dyes to mimic candy and/or legitimate prescription drugs.”

The DEA said these colorful fentanyl pills that are being called ‘rainbow fentanyl,’ appear to be a new method used to sell highly addictive and potentially deadly fentanyl, made to look like candy, to children and young people.

Brown said the Drug Task Force will be putting local schools on alert and will be creating some public service announcements to make sure people are aware of rainbow fentanyl. 

“This is poison,” said Brown. “They’re marketing poison at this point.” 

As for other Drug Task Force news, Brown said they will be holding their second public meeting of 2022 on Friday [October 14] in the Legislative Hearing Room at the Government Center in Monticello at 1 p.m. 

At that time, there will be a brief presentation on the Task Force’s overall accomplishments. Also, members of the Task Force and community will be able to ask questions about what the County is doing to address the drug crisis locally.

Sullivan Promise 

Back in April, legislators voted to establish the Sullivan Promise Scholarship program, which covers the full tuition and fees of every eligible County resident who graduated high school in 2022 and were admitted to SUNY Sullivan this fall, including GED students and homeschoolers, for one year of full-time study in a degree program.

During Thursday’s Government Services Committee meeting, SUNY Sullivan President Jay Quaintance gave an update on the program. As of October 1, Quaintance said there were 145 recipients of the Sullivan Promise Scholarship.

“I think that’s a pretty strong indicator that people [are] taking advantage and wanting to come to SUNY Sullivan as a result of that opportunity,” said Quaintance, “so I thank the legislature again.” 

Visitor spending

At Thursday’s Planning, Community Development, Real Property, Capital Planning and Budgeting Committee meeting, Sullivan Catskills Visitors Association (SCVA) Vice President of Marketing, Herb Clark, shared statistics recently released by Tourism Economics/Oxford Studies. In 2021, visitor spending in the Sullivan Catskills was $709 million.

Furthermore, SCVA President/CEO Roberta Byron-Lockwood told the Democrat that Sullivan County was third in the 10-county Mid-Hudson/Catskills region for lodging, fourth in overall travel expenditures and first in second homes. 

She added that the impact per household in taxpayers’ savings is $2,973, meaning that property owners in Sullivan County would pay an additional $2,973 for the same services they receive if not for the tourism industry.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

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