Thirteen people were arrested for allegedly transporting mass amounts of heroin on Metro-North trains from Harlem and the Bronx to the Hudson Valley. Jose Martinez filed the following report.
For months, the Hudson Line was the Heroin Line.
Prosecutors say some Metro-North trains carried a lot more than suburban commuters. Heroin rode the rails from Harlem and the Bronx into the Hudson Valley.
"This was a mass-transit using ring of heroin suppliers, which is why we call it 'Operation Iron Horse,’” said Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
On Thursday, officials announced the arrests of 13 people in the takedown of the heroin ring, which allegedly was led by Brian Bacon, a 52-year-old Bronx man known as "The Prime Minister."
"The prime minister is being recalled, ladies and gentlemen,” said Schneiderman.
Officials said drug runners stashed the heroin and cash into bags then boarded trains at the 125th Street Metro-North station, with the drugs distributed in Newburgh and surrounding communities.
"We have these men on public transportation sitting next to families, to tourists, carrying huge quantities of deadly drugs and dirty money. They clearly thought no one was the wiser,” said Schneiderman.
Riders we spoke with said they rarely pay attention to those around them and authorities said the suspects did nothing to call attention to themselves on the trains.
"It could be anybody. You never know who's sitting next to you,” said one rider.
"They trying every trick in the book,” said another.
Prosecutors described the ring as a family affair, with Bacon allegedly using his son and the son's girlfriend to assist in packaging and delivery.
Schneiderman said the son, Tamar Dillard, was a key courier, regularly traveling from 125th Street to deliver heroin to a contact in Newburgh.
"New York is a major hub if not the major hub of heroin entering the country,” said Schneiderman.
And sometimes it takes the train.